Story of Oscar Wao

Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

There is an obsession with obesity in the United States, and that obsession is also seen in a number of other countries (Pool, 24). One of the most significant works of fiction that deals with that issue is Junot Diaz's book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. In the book, the main character -- Oscar -- is obese (Junot, 8). He lives in New Jersey and is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy. He also wants to find love, and believes his family is plagued by a curse with which they all struggle. Because he is Dominican, there is another problem with his weight. The hypermasculinity that is seen and appreciated in the Dominican culture is not something of which he can be a part, because he is so large (Junot, 27). If he were thin, popular, and not "nerdy," he would be much more likely to be accepted into his culture, and also into the American culture were obesity is very common but still looked down upon by the majority of people. Even those who are overweight or obese sometimes look down on others who are large than they are, and there is much "fat-shaming" taking place.

Oscar quickly becomes a victim of the obsession with obesity, since his life is severely hampered by it in many ways. In addition to not being culturally accepted, he is unsuccessful with girls in a culture that shows young boys his age should be able to accomplish getting a girlfriend or at least getting involved in a "hookup" with a girl. Instead, Oscar prefers science fiction, role playing games, reading, and cartoons -- none of which are pursuits that are typically accepted by his culture and none of which are going to be likely to bring him a girl with which to fall in love. At seven years old, Oscar did have a girlfriend (Junot, 43). He actually had two of them, for a week. He broke up with one at the request of the other, only to be quickly dumped by her. In the narration of the book, it is said that this will make all three of them unlucky with their love lives in the future (Junot, 25).

As Oscar moves into high school, he is clearly an outcast (Junot, 58). The kinds of things with which he is fascinated cause him to be teased, and his weight does not help matters any. He fits the stereotype of the fat nerd, and few girls are looking for someone like that with which to get involved. He is shunned by most people because he is fat, but yet he does not work to lose weight. He does have some friends, but they find girlfriends and do not help Oscar do the same. He decides that he does not want to be friends with them anymore at that point (Junot, 122). He falls for a girl named Ana in his senior year and they spend time together as friends, but she has a boyfriend. When her boyfriend returns from the military, she stops spending time with Oscar. He is rejected when he confesses his feelings, and then he goes away to college (Junot, 135). He does not have any more luck at college than he has in high school. He is able to make friends with girls, but none of them want to be more than that.

Eventually he tries to kill himself, but fails in his attempt. After college, he goes to the Dominican Republic and does end up dying (Junot, 315). He wanted to be the hero of his own story, but he wanted to do it on his terms -- in a way that he was accepted for who he was and that he did not have to become skinny and give up all of the things that mattered to him just to get a girl to love him. That is often the way it is with obese men, as women reject them more often than they reject men who are thinner (Fumento, 45; Kopelman & Caterson, 18). This happens with obese women, as well, but they seem to be more able to find people who love them the way they are. They are not as focused on cultural issues as men generally are, and they are not as concerned about the masculinity/femininity issue or being "nerdy," because they are not judged as significantly for that (Levy-Navarro, 28). With Oscar, he was constantly being judged for his weight and the types of pursuits he liked. He could have changed those things, but for the most part he was happy with himself they way he was and just wanted to be accepted by others.

The obsession with obesity in the United States and also in the Dominican culture is highly significant, as seen by the reaction others have to Oscar, and the reaction he has to the way they treat him. He eventually succeeded in dying in a way he felt mattered, and he was able to have and consummate a relationship with a woman before his death, but his life was not what he wanted and needed it to be. Of course, whether he was really "cursed" or not could have also played a role in the value he placed on his life. If he believed in the power of the curse it could have strongly impacted him and made him feel as though any steps he took in order to be more successful with weight loss or other issues would not have worked for him. Between the curse information and the concern over his weight, one can see that Oscar is generally doomed from the start of the story.