Yunior begins his story by telling the tale of fuku and zafa
and the role they play in Dominican culture. Throughout the second half of the
novel Lola, Oscar and Yunior respond to and believe in fuku in different ways.
When Yunior moves in with Oscar junior year he mentions that “[Oscar] used to
say he was cursed… and if [he’d] really been old-school Dominican [he] would
have (a) listened to the idiot, and then (b) run the other way” (Diaz 171). Although
Oscar was born in the States, he is a firm believer in fuku. However, whether
he is actually cursed, or fulfilling an inevitable self-prophecy believing in
the curse, is up to interpretation. Yunior does not believe in fuku himself,
but knows how Dominicans feel about it and knows he probably should be more
cautious of it.
Although Lola and Oscar come from the same mother and have
the same upbringing, her views on the curse are completely opposite Oscar’s.
Whereas he blames his unfortunate life on the curse, Lola “[doesn’t] think
there are any such things as curses. [She] think[s] there is only life. That’s
enough” (205). She represents a much more realistic, American view on life;
things happen and that’s life.
Depending on the Dominican, some would look at the lives
Beli, Lola and Oscar and say Abelard ruined their family and cursed them for
life. Those Dominicans are likely the ones more true to their roots. Lola is a
strong disbeliever in the curse. She also fights Dominican norms. Whereas most
Dominican women subject themselves to abusive husbands and boyfriends, Lola was
not supportive of the Dominican norms. When Oscar asks Lola if she would “allow
[her] pubescent daughter to have relations with a twenty-four-year-old male,”
she replies with “I’d kill him first” (35). Lola stands up for herself and does
not act as a typical Dominican female is expected too.
Oscar, who believes in the curse, shows hyper Dominican masculinity
in his obsession with women and porn. Oscar does not abuse women but he knows
what is expected of him as a Dominican male. When he asks Yunior if it’s true
that no Dominican male has ever died a virgin and Yunior confirms that it’s
against the laws of nature Oscar’s response is “that… is what worries me” (174).
Oscar’s acknowledgement of what his role is and what is expected of him ties
him to his Dominican culture. His connection to his Dominican masculinity can
also be seen as what ties him to the curse. There is a clear correlation
between Dominican culture and belief in the curse. It ties the characters
closer to or further away from their roots depending on what they believe in.
I think that in Oscar’s case, fuku was definitely a self-fulfilling prophecy. He believed that he was cursed, yet he did not take any precautions to avoid the curse being the end of him. He went back to the Dominican Republic after nearly being beaten to death because he was in love with Yvon and “couldn’t shake it” (316). He chased her around and did not heed her warnings to “leave right now” (316), nor did he listen to any of his relatives who tried to stop him. It was almost as if he expected that he was going to end up getting killed for his decision to chase after her, but he didn’t care or try to stop it. In the end, “the expected happened” (320), and Oscar wasn’t scared, he just seemed to accept it; he even had a speech prepared. I think fuku got to him in the end because he believed it would.
ReplyDeleteLola, however, didn’t believe in fuku, and I think that is what helped her make a better life for herself. As Lauren said, she believes that “there is only life. That’s enough” (205). She goes through some rough patches, but at the end of the novel she is married, has a baby, and seems pretty happy. I think her disbelief in the family curse made all the difference in her life versus Oscar’s life.
I think it is interesting that you identify a connection between the amount of Dominican behavior that the characters exhibit and whether or not they believe in the curse or fukú. With Oscar and Lola, it seems like the more one behaves like a typical Dominican, they more likely they are to believe in fukú. Further evidence of this connection can be found in La Inca, who does not believe in the family curse. After describing how Beli was badly beaten, Yunior states “To [La Inca’s] dying day she believed that Beli had met not a curse but God out in that canefield” (130). La Inca refuses to believe in the curse even after all of the awful things that have happened to her family. La Inca also does not behave like a typical Dominican woman, in that she refuses to physically punish Beli even after her neighbors strongly suggest it. Her difference from other Dominicans is clear when Yunior explains “La Inca couldn’t explain what it had meant to find the burnt girl locked in a chicken coop all those years ago, how that sight had stepped into her and rearranged everything so that now she found she didn’t have the strength to raise her hand against the girl” (128). This statement leads to the idea that it is because of everything horrible that has happened to her family that La Inca does not behave like a typical Dominican.
ReplyDeleteThe way the Diaz presents fuku in the novel ironically portrays, I think, how removed the Wao family is from their Dominican roots, and how that removal sets them apart from the rest of society. Oscar is repeatedly mistaken for a Puerto Rican because of his hairstyle in "GhettoNerd at the End of the World" (20, 30), yet he believes in fuku more than Lola, who when in Santo Domingo, assimilates to the culture there better than her brother yet doubts the curse more than he does. These two images flip the associations that we the audience have between fuku and being Dominican.
ReplyDeleteThis lack of “Dominican-ness” plays out in other ways as well. The expectation that Oscar will be a ladies man is thrown on him in his early childhood, and he never escapes his extreme love for women, yet inability to stay with them. Oscar’s lack of luck with the ladies creates a complicated relationship between him and his heritage, which seems to be partially expressed through his attachment to the idea of fuku. Lola, on the other hand, seems to fit the stereotypes about Dominican women better than Oscar. Her more fiery personality and acceptance in Santo Domingo seem to support this. Overall, I think that Diaz’s use of fuku shows the complicated relationships that arise between one’s heritage and one’s identity.