The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Chapter 1 Quotes
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Chapter 1 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Act.Chapter.Section.Paragraph), (Act.Special Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
There was the initial euphoria of finding himself alone at college, free of everything, completely on his f***ing own, and with it an optimism that here among these thousands of young people he would find someone like him. That, alas, didn't happen. The white kids looked at his black skin and his afro and treated him with inhuman cheeriness. The kids of color, upon hearing him speak and seeing him move his body, shook their heads. You're not Dominican. (1.1.6.51)
Oscar doesn't fit in at Rutgers. Because of his skin color, the white kids treat Oscar like a breakable object. They're too careful, too cheerful around him. And because Oscar is such a nerd, the Dominican kids don't believe that Oscar is actually Dominican. Every which way Oscar turns, kids treat him like an "other." Being a nerdy Dominican is tough.
Quote 2
In the forties and fifties, Porfirio Rubirosa—or Rubi, as he was known in the papers—was the third-most-famous Dominican in the world (first came the Failed Cattle Thief, and the Cobra Woman herself, Maria Montez). A tall, debonair prettyboy whose "enormous phallus created havoc in Europe and North America," Rubirosa was the quintessential jet-setting car-racing polo-obsessed playboy, the Trujillato's "happy side" (for he was indeed one of Trujillo's best-known minions). (1.1.1.5)
This book plays with stereotypes of Dominican men: they're playboys, they're super-masculine, and they all have insatiable sex drives. Porfirio Rubirosa serves as the exaggerated model for this stereotype. It's really important to ask yourself how Oscar Wao and Yunior both fit and don't fit this model.
Quote 3
[Oscar] [h]ad none of the Higher Powers of your typical Dominican male, couldn't have pulled a girl if his life depended on it. Couldn't play sports for s***, or dominoes, was beyond uncoordinated, threw a ball like a girl. Had no knack for music or business or dance, no hustle, no rap, no G. And most damning of all: no looks. (1.1.2.2)
This passage tells what qualities a Dominican male is supposed to have. Good looks, slickness with the ladies, athleticism, rhythm, and shrewdness. How do other men in the book treat Oscar, since he is so lacking in most of these qualities? How do you think Yunior understands Oscar? Does he respect Oscar?