Introduction
The use of magical realism in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is both vivid and intense. The theme is primarily expressed through the influence of fukú, a supernatural curse, and the inexplicable manifestation of a strange mongoose whenever Oscar and Beli are in desperate situations. Junot Diaz was born in Santo Domingo in 1968 in the Dominican Republic and was raised in New Jersey (Youssef 28).
The author’s focus on the experiences of immigrants from Latin America and the culture’s close association with magical realism explains its repeated use in the novel. The existence of magic is inextricably linked to the novel’s literary tradition and cultural practices that define most of the main characters. Magical realism is a complex aesthetic expression of rusticism that addresses the yearning for cultural emancipation and identity in “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.”
Summary
The novel details the life and experiences of its protagonist, Oscar Wao, who is on a quest for love and identity. However, before achieving his desires, he must navigate the challenges occasioned by cultural and familial history that define his reality. Oscar’s mother, Belicia, escapes the ravages of the Dominican Republic after her parents fall victim to the ruthlessness of Trujillo, a dictator believed to wield dark magical powers. Her close encounter with death motivated her to seek refuge in the United States, where she struggles to start anew with her children. Oscar’s desire for a sense of belonging sends him back to the Dominican Republic, where, despite finding love, he ends up dead for falling for the wrong woman.
Fukú
Fukú is undoubtedly the most profound and complex magical element in the novel. The author demystifies the phenomenon in the prologue by stating it is a curse of some kind (Diaz, 1). However, a detailed analysis of the text reveals its immensely complicated nature. The author links Fukú to some of the most horrific events in Latin American history. They include Christopher Columbus’s foray into the Americas, the Transatlantic slave trade, the killing of innocents at Tainos, and the devastation witnessed during Trujillo’s regime (Diaz 3).
The phenomena described by Derby and Yunior imply that their impacts are felt within communities and through time. The distinct traumas associated with the curse spread their effects through generations to affect individuals in the diaspora, as evidenced by Oscar and Yunior’s experiences. The concept of fukú highlights the devastating impact of transgenerational trauma on Latin American culture and its people.
In addition to representing past traumatic experiences, fukú is, in many ways, an active force that metes out devastation to its victims. In the novel, fukú is defined as an essential aspect of Trujillo’s supernatural abilities in inflicting suffering upon his enemies. For instance, Oscar’s family is believed to be cursed because his grandfather, Abelard, hid his beautiful daughter from Trujillo in an attempt to save her from being raped. It was believed that any individual who defied Trujillo would release the most vicious form of fukú up to the seventh generation of their family (Diaz 3).
Trujillo was a Dominican tyrant who governed the nation ruthlessly between 1930 and 1961 (Youssef 29). He was notoriously famous for the assassination and imprisonment of dissenters, activists, and resistance members such as the Mirabal sisters (Hafriz and Hamid 1481). The dictator’s violent actions traumatized generations of Dominican Republic citizens both within and outside of the nation’s borders.
Fukú can be viewed as a vivid representation of repressed cultural identities that were nearly eradicated by the brutality associated with traumatic events such as Trujillo’s tyrannical reign. The violence that the populace experiences is an indelible mark in their cultural history. Therefore, rather than creating imaginary worlds, magical realism allows the characters and the Dominican Republic’s citizenry to confront the realities of their lives by discovering the mystery in human actions.
The Golden-Eyed Mongoose
The golden-eyed mongoose is a prominent element of Dominical cultural identity and folklore. The creature acts as a savior in the novel. The author describes it as a large animal with golden eyes and a black pelt (Diaz 149). Beli’s encounter with the creature is captured in a scene where she is drifting in and out of life after suffering a brutal beating. The mongoose encourages her to rise and guides her to the road, where strangers rescue her.
Years later, Oscar reports seeing a golden-eyed Mongoose as he attempted suicide atop a tall building overlooking a busy street. He recalled standing on the bridge for a long time, and when he closed his eyes to calm himself, he saw what he described as a Mongoose with eyes that reached through him (Diaz 190). The serenity of the experience stopped Oscar from ending his life.
The Mongoose Oscar saw is quite similar to the one that saved his mother in the past. The repeated episode extinguishes the possibility of the event being a subjective experience by a single individual. As such, dismissing the event as a mere hallucination is impossible. The recurrence of the experience by a mother and her son during times of deep distress suggests that the author intends to ensure the inexplicable magical event is interpreted objectively. In essence, the mongoose represents the hope that cultural identity provides those in desperate situations.
Analysis
The elements of magical realism in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are linked to objective realities that significantly impact the lives of the characters. Magical realism is a method of narration that depicts a specific attitude toward reality that is inherently more complex and mysterious than what is perceptible at first glance (Rajabi et al. 4). It is defined as the depiction of supernatural events in a deadpan style that emphasizes their indistinctness from reality (Hart and Hart 159).
More importantly, the writing style does not question the improbability of the depicted events (Xavier and Ajit 724). It deconstructs reality and draws readers’ attention to a narrative form that applies new blends of fact and fiction (Xavier and Ajit 724). The stylistic device has been applied with great efficacy in the novel.
Fukú is undoubtedly a reminder of the past and an active force in the present. It represents the traumatic experiences that characterize Dominican history as well as their lingering and far-reaching effects on its current population of immigrants. Fukú is, therefore, an expression of trauma and the toxicity of cultural legacy. It is worth noting that curses such as fukú may serve as excuses that free individuals from personal responsibility while enhancing a miserable existence by elevating it from the mundane. More importantly, however, is the understanding that curses offer hope, that one day they may be lifted as a mark of new beginnings.
Similarly, the mongoose is a vivid expression of Dominican heritage with the capacity to transcend space and time. However, unlike fukú, it does not represent the violence and vengefulness that characterizes Dominican cultural history. The mongoose highlights that cultural identity is a source of consolation and courage in scenarios of hopelessness and desperation. It is a source of solace for a Dominican family escaping savagery in their home and struggling to adjust to the challenges that characterize life as immigrants in a deeply divided nation.
Conclusion
The story portrayed by Junot Diaz on the misadventures of Oscar and his family is so unusual that traditional literary tropes fail to effectively convey his message. The author overcomes this challenge by applying magical realism to enhance the novel’s authenticity as it straddles the boundary that separates fact and fiction. The story employs supernatural imagery to represent a colonial history characterized by repressed trauma that manifests in Oscar’s diasporic family.
Magical realism serves as the traumatized community’s way of safely navigating a history of violence in an unfamiliar land. The characters’ cultural identity serves as a reminder of the past and a beacon of hope in a world that presents a new set of challenges they must contend with. The desire for cultural emancipation is expressed in the characters’ desire to lead a successful and meaningful life despite the horrid experiences that define their historical legacies.
Works Cited
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Hart, Stephen Malcolm, and Jordan Hart. “Magical Realism Is the Language of the Emergent Post-Truth World.” Orbis Litterarum, vol. 76, no. 4. 2021, pp. 158–68. Web.
Diaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Faber and Faber. 2008.
Rajabi, Ayyub, et al. “Magical Realism: The Magic of Realism.” Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, vol. 12, no. 2, 2020, pp. 1–13. Web.
Xavier, Savariah, and I. Ajit. “Cultural Identity through Magical Realism: Through the Looking Glass of Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.” International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering, vol. 7, no. 5, 2019, pp. 724–25. Web.
Youssef, Rania Samir. “Juno Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and the Narration of Empathy.” Advances in Literary Study, vol. 10, no. 1. 2021, pp. 26–37. Web.