Patriarchy In Trujillo

967 Words4 Pages

The novel tells the various experiences of the women that existed in oscar’s life. There is a consistence of maltreatment of women starting from the beginning of the Cabral history and their fuku. The dominican republic is where the idea is patriarchy and the abuse of women stem from in the novel. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, president of the Dominican Republic, felt as ruler he could do whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted. This was true about the dictator, he was most noted for his desire for beautiful young women. To him women were nothing but objects to be used then discarded. From what Junot Diaz wrote, Trujillo “ believed that all the toto in the DR was, literally his. It 's a well documented fact that in Trujillo 's DR if you were …show more content…

Trujillo had no respect for women, to him, and many other male characters in the novel, women were sex symbols. This type of behavior shows in how the narrator views women also in Oscar and his one sided relationships, INSERT QOUTE about YUNIER AND EXPLAINATION It is arguable that cultural lens is more relative in the book than that of the feminist lens. This perspective makes sense because in the book the dominican culture is very significant. The story of Oscar, the character whom the novel is about, is told through the voice of Yunior, the narrator. Since Oscar was young he seemed to be battling with the idea of being a “ True Dominican man”, constantly trying to mold himself into something he simply was not. This idea was something in which haunted him through the entirety of his brief life. Many people in his life pressured him, trying to make him this true …show more content…

Although in the book men are the ones who mainly objectify females, the women themselves also seem to do the same. In the context of the book, the women play a role in how men sexualize their bodies. A great parts of this reflected on Beli, the mother of Oscar, her body was one that could mesmerize a man, prospering infatuations with her curvy features. At a young age Beli realized what her body can do to boys, to men. “ It dawned on Beli: that men liked her! Not only did they like her, they liked her a f---ing lot”, (Diaz 93). She found her body to hold some what power over men, having them feed from the palm of her hand. From that moment she began flaunting her body using it to lure men, searching for love in the wrong way, this may have been the reason for the demise of all three of her failed relationships. Beli, though her beauty was breathtaking, allowed for callous behavior of men in the way they treated her. The novel talks about one of her more “serious” relationships with the Gangster. The Gangster who falls under the spell of Beli’s physique does not truly love her as she did him. To him she was an escape “Life it seemed had struck the Gangster a dolorous blow and he was uncertain as to how to respond… which might explain why, when he met Beli, he jumped on her stat. I mean what straight middle aged brother has not attempted to regenerate himself through the alchemy of young p---y. And if what she has often said to her daughter was true , Beli had some of the