Why The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao

In the Novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” in the first few pages we learn about fukú which is, “a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically, the Curse and the Doom of the New World” (1). Throughout the novel we learn that Oscar and his family believe that they have been cursed by fukú, but it is really a concept and a metaphor for the circumstances in which Oscar and his family have found themselves in. The first reasons is because of the Trujillo Dictatorship, and how growing up in the Dominican Republic during this time resulted in the progression of life for the family. The second Reason is that because Beli’s parents were killed, and caused Beli hardship throughout her life. It was a domino effect that was passed down to Oscar,

In the introduction to the novel, the narrator says,” For those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history: Trujillo, one of the twentieth century's most infamous dictators, ruled the Dominican Republic between 1930 and 1961 with an implacable ruthless brutality” (2). These notes were important in our reading to understand the extent to which Trujillo was responsible for the family’s fukú. In part 3, we learn about Lola and Oscar’s mother Beli. A woman who was unfortunate to live in the time of Trujillo, and who lost her parents because of this dictatorship. This is the beginning point for the fukú that the family experiences in the novel. Beli was born into a wealthier family with a mother and father who were a doctor and a nurse. Unfortunately, it was speculated in the novel that their deaths were a result of the Trujillo Dictatorship. We find out that Trujillo targeted her father because he would not let him have his daughter, and because of a joke he made about Trujillo. Beli ends up being the only one in the family who survives because everyone else died in “freak” accidents. This is an example of how the dictatorship worked. You could not speak out against Trujillo, and if Trujillo wanted you or your family to do something you better do it or else

Beli’s life was really hard for those first thirteen years, and then La Inca saved her, but by this time Beli was already damaged as a person. She lost her parents that the determining factor for how her life was going to end up there on. We see Beli as this mean and terrible person in the beginning of the novel, but then when we see what she has experienced we start to understand. Beli gets herself into a relationship with a gangster and ends up getting herself beat pretty badly because of Trujillo’s sister. Beli also could not become educated as well as she could have with her parents. Most of the children that were being educated, had parents who worked under Trujillo, and were white children. Beli was very dark, and we see that this was brought up many times and set her back in many ways. It was even implied that Jack, the boy she liked, was embarrassed of her because her skin was so dark. This was a reality during this time. It would have been different for Oscar is his mother would have become educated, wealthier, was not working multiple jobs, and supporting the family on her