how to zafa your writing

In the prologue, the narrator wonders if this book isn’t a zafa of sorts. As if writing this story (from the point of the narrator Yunior) counters the curse itself. But, all the history and stories in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are all from a specific perspective in which the readers can not question. It is in it’s storytelling a form of dictatorship. And since the narrators in the book are all historically Trujillo’s children, the readers are also a generation touched by the fuku. This is why Junot Diaz chose to open the book, as well as title it, with Oscar Wao: because he is the most relatable and modern character for a worldly audience. Oscar is always psychologically caught between two forces- America and Santo Domingo, sexual experience and virgin awkwardness which goes hand-in-hand with this nerdy love for reading and writing apocalyptic stories. And the only thing truly American about him is his weight. But as much focus as Oscar gets, Diaz says in an interview at the 2009 National Book Festival, that the book is more about the women- Beli, Lola, La Inca, the daughters of Abelard, Lola’s daughter. I guess he makes this point because readers forget about all the important characters in this novel. And also it is difficult to relate to strongly rebelliously over sexualized women of a specific culture during a violent time. Diaz is using the women as a vehicle to show the effects of Santo Domingo’s rough criminal history not only physically, but emotionally and sexually. Every one gives us a personal view into the history of Trujillo’s dictatorship. Can the constant state of violence effect generations after the death of Trujillo? It is a curse associated with Christopher Columbus’ representation of European colonialism, leading to emigration, and ultimately is also an effect of assimilation into America (the same country which backed Trujillo). It is more than superstitious violence contributing to the curse.
Diaz also talked about how being from a struggling race, it is expected for smart children to use their full potential to become doctors or invest in a profession in which it pays well to be smart. It is not possible to become an artist, a writer. This is an example of his own perspective of the cycle of poverty in first, second generation immigrants shows up as a possible effect of fuku. Then, in that perspective, writing about the experiences and stories of Santo Domingo can be a zafa, a counter to the fuku- exposing it. But, the narratives and personal accounts seen through the eyes of Abelard or La Inca (which may represent a time before Trujillo being that her name is intuitively native), show a glimpse into a time where poverty was not a factor to the Cabral family. It is during Beli’s story that we see the effects of the dictatorship on families in the poverty of Santo Domingo. Also, Oscar and Lola circle again in America. But since the book collects bit of personal attributes to Junot Diaz’s life and family, the book may as well end the ill-fated family. Diaz’s mother always wanted him to be a doctor, just like La Inca and Beli proudly make references to their children. It is a time for art! Reading and writing are survival techniques which have as many opportunities as a curse can. A curse is a superstitious myth which requires the listeners to suspend their realistic belief (sounds like fiction). The book can be a dictator, a history book, a chance to access personal accounts into another culture, and also a lesson in the arts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gu91htmDpM