Summary: The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao

The power that is exercised by a narrator is not too different than the power that is practiced by a dictator. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, author Junot Diaz utilizes a narrator named Yunior who provides the eyes through which the readers can visualize the story they are reading. Because this novel focuses on the time period in which the brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic for 31 years, there are many ethical challenges that are posed against narration and thus specific literary techniques are required in effort to minimize the ethical controversies. For instance, some theorists argue that simply reading heinous acts of violence in text casts the readers as perpetrators because they begin to view the action

This struggle is vital to examine because it is not only ongoing as both writers and dictators in the world will indefinitely exist, but it also serves as the root of dominance. In particular, both entities (writers and dictators) are silently omniscient. Early in the novel, Oscar talks to his sister Lola about a girl who he falls in love with in SAT preparatory class. In reflection of this conversation, the narrator places himself in the story and recalls that Lola always calls Oscar “Mister” when she feels wronged. Yunior then notes that “she’d want to put that on his gravestone but no one would let her, not even me. Stupid” (36). The narrator reveals to the readers that Oscar will die later in the story, hence making Yunior possess the power of omniscience. The choice to include such a revelation so early in the novel sets a precedent for the readers to confide in the narrator’s omniscience. Simultaneously, however, this power contains a boundary that is set by silence. Yunior demonstrates a feeling of regret for not allowing Lola to put “Mister” on Oscar’s gravestone, thus presenting Yunior as an omniscient narrator who knows his limits. In this way, the narrator proves to be the silent observer; that is, to have unlimited wisdom of the story but at the same

Writers can portray dictators in any way they want in historical recount, however dictators want to mute (or make silent) any form of writing that may discredit or criticize their rule. Ultimately, Yunior uses silence as a tool to acknowledge his limit of narration and allow the readers to use their imaginations to fill specific gaps in the novel, whereas Trujillo demands silence for any hint of opposition to his dictatorship. Yunior’s ability to not only include emotion but also to periodically remind the readers that he cannot change or add certain details in his acknowledgments generates a notion that Yunior is the innocent omniscient (zafa) whereas Trujillo is the antagonizing omniscient (fúku) due to his display of violence subsequent fear through