The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Analysis

Love is a universal emotion. At some point in their lifetime, people will experience some form of love, whether it be romantic, platonic, or familial; however, not everyone experiences love the same way. There are many factors that contribute to the way a person views love, receives love, and expresses love: their family dynamic, past relationships, and most importantly, their culture. One of the factors that most influences how a person receives and expresses romantic love is the culture and society surrounding them. In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the author provides examples of how culture impacts love by spotlighting a series of tragic love stories that take place in the Dominican Republic.
The protagonist of the

Throughout the novel, Oscar is constantly pressured by his peers to find a girlfriend. They would say, “he couldn’t have pulled a girl if his life depended on it” (Diaz, 20). Oscar experiences deep shame because of the fact that he couldn’t find anyone to date. He strives his entire life to conform to perceived masculine ideals, but never quite fits the mold. Oscar was raised without a father or father figure, which left him with no adult man in his life to show him how to meet the expectations of Dominican masculinity. In the Dominican Republic, only 6.4% of children ranging from ages 3-4 have been in contact with their biological father beyond the basics of fatherhood, such as feeding and clothing (UN Women). The lack of devotion from these fathers heavily affects boys, often causing them to fall short of societal expectations for masculinity, much like Oscar in The Brief and Wondrous Life

He believes that these counterfeit masculine qualities are a woman’s ideal. However throughout the novel, Yunior begins to realize that Oscar holds many valuable characteristics that can actually attract women looking for healthy relationships. Oscar's ability to have conversations with women and treat them gently goes a lot further than Yunior ever thought possible. Yunior begins to have personal growth and even goes as far as to say "Machismo is a disease. It affects us all, even those of us who aren't aware of it. It's like secondhand smoke. You don't have to be a smoker to die of lung cancer" (Diaz, 111). He evolves from being a man that perfectly represents what machismo is all about, to finding value in so-called “weaker” qualities in a man. He begins to realize that the way machismo men act is not beneficial to women, can cause them harm, and can lead to an unhealthy marriage and family dynamic. Not only do the ideas of machismo harm men and their mental health, as it did for Oscar, it creates a false, harmful indoctrination of a man’s role in a romantic relationship. Due to the fact that the machismo ideals are so valued, women perceive the aggression towards them as normal and even loving. This mindset paves a way for women to experience abusive relationships and sexual violence as the norm in romantic