The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (89-119)

Summary:

The story continues with more background of Beli, the mother of Lola and Oscar. In this part of the book we learn about Beli’s first boyfriend, Jack Pujols. Pujols is a member of one of the richest families in the Dominican Republic. However, Pujols was not interested in Beli no matter what she did to get his attention, until one day Beli suddenly developed and her breast became the new talk at school. Soon afterwards Beli and Pujols were going out and all was going good until they got caught having sex in the janitors closet. Pujols promised to marry Beli after high school which is the reason that Beli did not get angry at him, when he said that she seduced him. After the incident Pujols was sent to military school and that was the last Beli ever saw of him. The rest of my reading is just more talk about Beli’s life in Bani and how she made a living, and eventually her telling her children on how it was that she met their father.

Quote:

“Hey, Dionisio, isn’t that the girl que te dio una pela last week?” (Díaz, 118).

Reaction:

I think this quote is important because it might foreshadow the reason why Beli was not able to maintain a healthy relationship with her kids’ father.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (1-89)

Summary:

I am really enjoying the fact that I chose this book to read for ROAR. It reconnects me with Spanish when I have to research what a particular word means. But perhaps one of the biggest reasons that I love this book is because the protagonist Oscar Wao, and how he is described in the first chapter, makes me think of myself, and in a book that is the first time that has happened to me as a reader. The story at the moment has no real pattern and I think it is because of the point of view utilized by Junot Diaz. Diaz uses third person omniscient and so the reader knows what every character is thinking, and also what they have experienced. The first chapter was some background information on Oscar, the second was some background on Oscar’s sister Lola, and the third which I am currently on is some background on his mother Belicia aka Beli. Each chapter has a small timeline of when the events of the chapter took place. The timeline is really helpful to me so that I may be able to follow what is going on in the story. The novel is full of foreshadowing because of the way that the story is told, the chapter about Beli has not spoken about her having Lola and Oscar, but on the previous chapters I already know that eventually Beli will have her two children, I also know based on previous chapters that Beli is going to move to New Jersey, I just don’t know why and for what. The narration is difficult, but it makes me feel like I have all the answers to any questions the book may have, all I have to do is find them.

Quote:

“No amount of wishful thinking was changing the cold hard fact that she was a teenage girl living in the Dominican Republic of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina, the Dictatingest Dictator who ever Dictated.”

Reaction:

This quote has some alliteration with the words Dictatingest (fake word) Dictator, and Dictated. I believe that he capitalized those words to grab the reader’s attention to them. I also think this is an important quote because as many Dominicans know, Trujillo is an infamous dictator for all the cruel things that he has done in the Dominican Republic. This is one of many lines where Diaz refers to Trujillo, and I think it is important because he may be the reason why Beli moved to New Jersey and did not stay in the Island.