Assignment #2: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Topic One: Analyze a character from your novel whose mind is pulled in conflicting directions by two compelling desires, ambitions, obligations, or influences.

Junot Diaz's bold novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, describes the main character, Oscar, as an ugly, obese Dominican boy who just wants someone to love him for who he is and how he looks. While Oscar is trying to find love, he is pulled in conflicting directions by his mother, his heart and his lovers' lovers. In the novel, Oscar is infatuated with a girl named Maritza. Oscar's mom seemed to think that he should give her a hard slap "(Dale un galletazo)... then see if the little puta respects you." (14) She believed that Oscar had to be a little rough with a woman to see if they would stay with him. After Maritza, Oscar began to fall in love with a girl named Ana. Ana's ex boyfriend, Manny, had returned from the army and she always went back to him. His sister, Lola, noticed something was wrong with Oscar and she asked, "So she has a boyfriend?... Yes, he said. You should back off for a little while. Did he listen? Of course he didn't."(43) Oscar was in love with Ana, so he wasn't going to give up on her so easily. His heart was stuck on her. Later on in his life, Oscar met a woman named Ybon, who had an ex-boyfriend named "the capitan", who believed he was still Ybon's boyfriend. The capitan found Oscar and Ybon together and when the capitan confronted Oscar, "the capitan's face appeared over his: If you ever touch my mujer again I'm going to kill you..." (296) He still wanted to be with Ybon, even if it meant he was going to lose his life. His love for her had him killed. Oscar's life ended by being attacked and shot by the capitan's friends. In his life, Oscar went through all of these troubles for one thing: Love. It is a shame that he had to die for the only thing he wanted.