The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz Essay

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Essay Example In this novel, Oscar is a character that can not maintain a physical relationship with a girl because of his obesity. (Diaz) has emphasized that sex is the fundamental element that an individual must exhibit in order to be a Dominican male. Dominican male in the novel has been described as an individual that has charm, physical attraction, and virility. All of these qualities have been replaced in Oscar’s persona by his obesity. Other characters in the play like Yunior and Rudolfo are able to make girlfriends and maintain a physical relationship with them because they are smart, and have captivating looks. Thus, Diaz has placed a lot of emphasis upon the significance of looks of men. When Oscar’s mother, Belicia reaches puberty and develops large breasts that appeal to all the boys around her, she chooses to date nobody but the most handsome boy in the school named Jack Pujols. The fact that this happens between the year 1955 and 1962 reinforces the concept that menâ₠¬â„¢s beauty has not just recently gained importance, but has been of significance for a long time in the past. Clare Spurrell has expressed the consequences of obesity on the physical relationship in her article Obesity and relationships. Spurrell supports the notion that people have been weight conscious for long. â€Å"Since the 1960s the population as a whole has become more sedentary with greater hours spent in front of the television, and an increasingly automated lifestyle† (Spurrell 1). ... The idea compares well with the issue of obesity in the present age. Proponents of obesity control programs are of the view that obesity lowers an individual’s confidence level and may put the individual into social exclusion. In a society that stereotypes obesity as a symptom of sloth, overindulgence and a lack of self-control, sufferers are often left with feelings of social exclusion and isolation. Even more so in a relationship, the psychological implications of the 'fat stereotype' can be equally disruptive. (Spurrell 1). Diaz and Spurrell have both maintained that obesity has negative effect on people’s physical relationships, though Diaz has gone a step further by not letting Oscar make love with anyone because of his obesity whereas Sara and her boyfriend, do make love with one another, but their relationship is complicated by the obesity that both suffer from and eventually, they part ways. Oscar develops several affairs in the novel by Diaz, though the intimac y never grows up to the physical level. First, Oscar finds Ana Obregon in the SAT preparation class. He finds her attractive and the two make friends with each other. However, Ana is taken over by Manny because he is physically intimate with Ana unlike Oscar, who is only good in conversing with her. Later, Oscar finds Jenni Munoz, a Puerto Rican girl. He does the same to her what he did to Ana i.e. kill the time speaking to her and never making love. Because of that, the end of their relationship is also like before. Jenni finds a boyfriend and breaks all ties with Oscar. Once again, Oscar is left alone. Break up of Ana and then Jenni with Oscar as well as the breakup of Sara with Jonathon essentially tells that sex is fundamental to the survival and sustainability of a relationship.

The Good Soldier Svejk Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Good Soldier Svejk Analysis - Essay Example en analyzed by the author as well as the main characteristics that have been explored and satirized such as the use of national language, utilization of legal symbols, and religious objects among others. The novel describes the happenings of the First World War that resulted from the murder in Sarajevo. Characters such as Svejk display a great interest in serving the Australian emperor during the war that it was hard to decide whether he was simply crafty or an idiot who undermined the efforts of the war. Subsequently, he gets arrested by the secret police, Bretschneider, when he makes sensitive remarks about politics and later sent to penitentiary. It is then claimed that he was insane and was sent to a madhouse before he was ejected. Subsequently, he uses his intellect to join the army as batman to the chaplain of the army who is Otto Katz. Generally, the narrative recounts of how a rogue was able to use his wits and survived various misfortunes. It gives a limelight to a corrupt and complex society where the main character is always on the move from the beginning of the novel. One of the key elements that the author has used in sustaining and creating interest and making the char acteristics more credible is in developing the main character and how he is enlightened by the struggles in his life. The amazing and picaresque novel is a genre that has exemplary characteristics such as satire, which enables the author to introduce various social types in funny and bizarrely situations. This he does to expose their vanity, stupidity, and hypocrisy. The form used does not make difficult demands to have intricate plotting as in the case of detective stories but rather has detailed characterization of persons who are comic strips with regard to social types. The style employed demands an interesting and sympathetic central character as well as witty satire in order to sustain the interest’s of the reader in all the episodes. Hasek satirize s and explores various