The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Chapter 3 Quotes
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Chapter 3 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Act.Chapter.Section.Paragraph), (Act.Special Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 4
Johnny Abbes Garía was one of Trujillo's beloved Morgul Lords. [...]. After Trujillo's death, Abbes [...] ended up working for that other Caribbean nightmare, the Haitian dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Wasn't nearly as loyal to Papa Doc as he was to Trujillo—after an attempted double-cross Papa Doc shot Abbes and his family and the blew their f***ing house up. (I think P. Daddy knew exactly what kind of creature he was dealing with.) No Dominican believes that Abbes died in that blast. He is said to still be out there in the world, waiting for the next coming of El Jefe, when he too will rise from the Shadow. (1.3.7.40)
One question you might have about this passage is: What is a "Morgul"? Don't worry; we've got you covered. They're the dudes in Lord of the Rings who basically serve as minions to the big-time baddie, Sauron. So Johnny Abbes was like a Morgul for Trujillo. Notice the mixture of fantasy stuff like Lord of the Rings and real-life political stuff like Trujillo's dictatorship. This mixture cues us into to the larger-than-life hold Trujillo's evil regime had on the Dominican Republic.
Quote 5
The world was coming apart at the seams—Santo Domingo was in the middle of a total meltdown, the Trujillato was tottering, police blockades at every corner—and even the kids she'd gone to school with, the brightest and the best, were being swept up in the Terror. (1.3.9.40)
Díaz gives us a pretty accurate description of what it looks like when a dictator is losing power. It's like a whirlpool: if you're anywhere in the area, you're in trouble.
Quote 6
It's true. The Gangster's wife was—drumroll, please—Trujillo's f***ing sister! Did you really think some street punk from Samaná was going to reach the upper echelons of the Trujillato on hard work alone? Negro, please—this ain't a f***ing comic book! (1.3.14.1)
You've heard this old adage before: it's not what you know, but who you know, that matters. The Gangster has so much power because he married Trujillo's sister. Also, whenever a character is harmed in this book, it usually has something to do with Trujillo. We just can't escape this guy.