From the beginning of the story, this book has captured my attention for a couple of reasons. First, the book has footnotes that are unusual for a fiction book because footnotes usually belong to essays or research papers, but instead these were included but with hilarious information about Oscar's life and his country's history. Second, this book is hilarious in that Diaz combines sophisticated and professional writing with his native style, which appears at random times which keeps me entertained. A mini example is on page 1 where Diaz writes, "despite 'discovering' the New World the Admiral died so miserable and syphiitic,hearing(dique) divine voices."
On page 79, Diaz writes,"What exactly it was she wanted was never clear either: her own incredible life,yes, a handsome,wealthy husband,yes,beautiful children,yes,a woman's body,without question." In this section where Beli wanted something "else" in her life, this follows,so my question is, do you think that it is the desire for all women to naturally want to have the best life imaginable, to have the perfect husband figure, have children, and be beautiful? Are these things innate for women? I think that they are innate because everyone wants to have the best life possible, and if they don't want this, they should. Why would anyone want to live a mediocre life, not having or making the most of what they can?
The portion of reading over break focused a lot on Beli, Oscar and Lola's mom and the life she lived as a child. The later section then showed us how Oscar Wao is faring in college and how he attempted to kill himself. The last line in Part 1 says, "Nothing more exhilarating(he wrote) than saving yourself by the simple act of waking"(201). This line made me stop and think about the quote's relation to the events in this section. My question is, if Beli would have woken up after the incident with Jack P. would she have prevented her encounter with el Gangster and the Trujillos and if Oscar had chosen to face his reality and fears dead on, would both Beli and Oscar have saved themselves from all the pain and suffering they went through in life?Could they have saved themselves if they had just woken up?
In response to Betsie's blog on (2/9/2011), I agree the information in the footnotes can be hilarious, but they are also helpful in allowing the reader to get a deeper sense of the culture that Junot Diaz is referring to in his writing. Not only did the footnotes catch my attention, but so did the author's intention and his word choice throughout his writing. A very significant passage was when Junot Diaz wrote "what Oscar at the end, would call Ground Zero of the New World" (1). Ground Zero was a location that once flourished, but became destroyed. I believe that Diaz intends to say that the New World's Santo Domingo once flourished and was a location that was essential to finances and business, but became a place of no importance.
As I was reading I came across an important passage where Lola was saying that "..we colored folks talk plenty shit about loving our children but we really don't" (Diaz 35). I agree with this statement because the culture in which Oscar is living in is putting a pedestal on women and being a "casanova" when they know he is struggling with self-image and inner confidence. When he asked his mother if he was ugly she responded with "Well, hijo, you certainly don't take after me" (30) rather than boosting his self-confidence. Also, at a time when he was emotionally hurt by losing his childhood love he wasn't caressed, but instead scolded at for displaying any sign of emotion a if he wasn't a human being. I can understand why a boy in such a culture would make the statement that Lola did, but as a girl how has Lola been treated by her parents? As a girl, what made her believe that "colored folks" don't really love their children?
To answer your question about how Lola has been treated by her parents, I think that we can just look at her mother's life and we get the answer. Beli didn't even grow up with her parents, she lived with a foster family before being taken by La Inca, who tried to provide her with the best life that she could. Beli, was the one that chose to follow herself and what she thought she could achieve with her body, and because Beli is scarred, Lola has to learn to live her life on her own. Lola says that "you can never run away.Not ever. The only way out is in"(209), so I was wondering if you agree? Is the only way out from life, from difficult situations,etc to go in,to confront whatever you are trying to get away from? After confrontation, can you ALWAYS be released from what you are trying to flee or get away from?
In response to Betsie's comment(Febraury 9th) I think that this is the first book that has captured my attention right away. At first when I heard this book was going to have footnotes I thought that it would be boring like all the footnotes that I have encountered in the past. I agree they are funny footnotes that give you background about the characters and a little history to help a reader, especially if they don't really know anything about Dominican history. In the beginning I was often contemplating whether I should stop reading to jump down to the footnotes and lose my flow. After I read the first few footnotes I stopped because I wanted to continue the flow and they seemed like a hassle in my opinion. Also I would like to talk about the way he inserts Spanish words in the book. I find that having a few Spanish words in there just enhances the literature because I feel like I'm getting a sense of the Dominican culture in some way. I've read literature that have had words from a different language other than English and I love how in this book you have the option to look up the words if you wanted to, but it's not an absolute necesity to look them up in order to get what is going on in the text. With many of the Spanish words I believe he makes it easy for readers to predict what the word means. For example " Trujillo would incur a fuku most powerfull, down to the seventh generation and beyond. If you even thought a bad thing about Trujillo, fua, a hurricane would sweep your family out to sea..." (Diaz, 3). In this example I know that fua is negative and that it's a curse.
To respond to the February 16th comment about what women want in life, I just wanted to say all the things that Betsie has mentioned are what most wome want in life and are the typical things that should make them feel "fufilled" in life. Each woman's life is different, each woman has gone through their own experiences and struggles in life and I believe that they want a husband that can make them feel happy and secure . It means nothing if a woman has a handsome husband if the woman is unhapy. A couple should compliment each other emotionally and not just physically. Beli has probably looked at her life and wondered what else does she need because it seems that she has it all, but I think that is what she is missing. She is missing the emotional connection that should help her feel happy about the life that she is living. She has followed the checklist of what people expect that women should have in order to be successful, but I don't believe that she is following Her own checklist.
To respond to Jodaelle's February 24th comment, I do believe that "coloured folk" do care about their children. In the beginning of the book I would have definitely agreed that they don't especially after reading that quote. In the beginning of the book when the readers are exposed to Oscar and Lola's mom as an example of a "coloured folk" it is easy to think that. I mean how could you not? When Lola got a haircut from her friend her mother yelled horrible things to Lola like "you're going to wear it every day. And if I see you without it on I'm going to kill you!" (Diaz 59) Then after when you read a little bit further when Lola is sent to her grandmother clearly cares about her grandchildren so I don't believe in that statement anymore. I feel like Lola's mom is just a special case. Also Lola is truly happy in the Dominican Republic which is a complete 180 from the way she felt when she was living with her mother.
In response to Betsie's last comment I do believe that the only way out is the only way in. You have to confront whatever is bothering you in life to move forward. In the very first couple of pages in the book the narrator talks about the different fukus that seem to haunt every Latino family. He said that only when he started to research them is when his mother opened up about their family's fukus. When we actually get into the story there is a reoccuring pattern. It seems like the family doesn't like to talk about the past, the past that has so much pain and unhappiness. Through generations of not confronting their issues there seems to be a continuing disfunction that creeps through each generation. I believe that every generation's baggage has rolled over to the next generation. On page 211 it talks about how the family usually doesn't bring up the past. The passage says "when the family talks about it at all-which is like never-they always begin in the same place: with Abelard and the Bad Thing he said about Trujillo."
A important topic that Diaz has everywhere in this book is definitely the topic of women.On page 236, Diaz writes, "but Lydia never stopped trying to convince him, in a low-intensity way that love was love and for that reason it should be obeyed". This is out last post on this book so I just wanted to introduce this idea, so that we could think about as a group what Diaz's messages are or what his message is when talking specifically about women. In my opinion, women in the Dominican culture have had a profound influence on Oscar and on Diaz as well.
Wher did Belicia's anger stem from? Is it from her past? Was sge mistreated in the same way that she is now mistreating Lola? "From ages two to thirteen I believed her and because I believed her I was the perfect hija" (56). Why did Lola change at age thirteen? I believe it was more than just something sudden. She encountered a mental growth and realization. Her gullible eyes opened up and she became much wiser. But why did it happen at the age of thirteen? My thought was that puberty was the cause. Around that age childreen/teens begin to rebel and that is what Lola was doin--rebelling against her mother. In a way, she is not completely free from her mother because her actions are still based on Beli. Although she has put an end to the cleaning, the cooking, and the obeying she is acting rebellious in response to her mother. Her behavior is a reflection of her mother and not her free will.
"What a world she spun! Beli talked of parties and pools and polo games and dinners where bloody steak was heaped onto plates and grapes were as common as tangerines" (86). Beli's life seemed as if it was happy and not lacking anything. When she arrrived to America all she has been focused on is work; her rebellious child, Lola; and her cancer diagnosis. It seems as if coming to America, the country that is believed to be filled with many opportunities also brings about stress and sadness in one's life because life focuses on the economy and not happiness. Many immigrants are in similar situations as Beli where life wasn't too difficult in their homeland, but after coming to America they became more stressed and must deal with asssimilating to the new cultural surroundings although they don't wnat to. Why do immigrants continue to use America even though the country is filled with hardships?
In response to everyone's talks about footnotes, I actually really enjoyed reading them! Not only did I get a better sense and understanding of what was going on in the book, I was also able to learn more about what Diaz was thinking and refrencing to as he wrote this novel. You usually don't see footnotes in fiction books like this, but I think this part of his writing style actually improved the quality and was just a benenfit in the longrun. I learned so much more about the Dominican culture and its connections throughout the book.
In response to Betsie's Febuary 16th post, I do think it is desirable for all women to want what is best for their family and everything around them. Women have always been seen as the caretakers for as long as we can remember in society, and they want to be able to take care of their family properly. On top of this, woem want to be beautiful as well. I believe this is because women want to be seen as desirable in mens eyes. Not only should they fufil the wishes of their family duties, but they want to make their husband happy as well. If a woman is seen as beautiful, she is more likely to attract a husband, and therefore is one step closer to achieve that goal of raising the perfect family and having the perfect life. Diaz portrays Beli as this ideal women in this novel-searching for the life that most everyone wants.
In response to Jodaelle's Febuary 28th post, I completely disagree with the quote "..we colored folks talk plenty shit about loving our children but we really don't" (Diaz 35). I think that this quote generalizes about every colored person in the world, when in fact, its not true at all. Although in this book, it may seem as though the Dominican culture doesn't, or more specifically, how Lola was raised doesn't reflect how all colored people raise their children. I think that it is more based on Beli's past. She never had a mother to care for her, so in response, she didn't really know how to raise Lola correctly. But in the long run, Lola learning to live on her own and defend herself with actually benefit her.
In response to Betsie mentioning that Lola says that "you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in"(209, I think that it is necessary to confront all of your problems, instead of running away. If you just run away from every single challenge you face throughout your lifetime, you will never learn from your mistakes or grow as a person. Your fears will soley just keep building up and you won't get anywhere with your life. Confronting your problems may not always give you the best outcome, however you have to be willing to take that chance and face the consequences for whatever your actions are. I think Lola has learned a valuable lesson, especially since she raised herself as a child without Beli's constant motherly care.
In response to Betsie's last post, I think that Diaz's messages about women in this novel are very strong. One topic/theme that keeps being brought up and shown throughout this book is the hardships that women have to face. Whether its Lola not having the ideal lifestyle as a child, or Beli struggling to make ends meet for her family, I think it all comes down to Dominican culture and how women are portrayed in it. This obviously has had a huge effect on Diaz since he is Dominican and grew up in the Dominican Republic. Coming from a poor country and watching the women around him struggle, I think must have been the basis for where he got his ideas for the women characterized in this book.
From the beginning of the story, this book has captured my attention for a couple of reasons. First, the book has footnotes that are unusual for a fiction book because footnotes usually belong to essays or research papers, but instead these were included but with hilarious information about Oscar's life and his country's history. Second, this book is hilarious in that Diaz combines sophisticated and professional writing with his native style, which appears at random times which keeps me entertained. A mini example is on page 1 where Diaz writes, "despite 'discovering' the New World the Admiral died so miserable and syphiitic,hearing(dique) divine voices."
ReplyDeleteOn page 79, Diaz writes,"What exactly it was she wanted was never clear either: her own incredible life,yes, a handsome,wealthy husband,yes,beautiful children,yes,a woman's body,without question." In this section where Beli wanted something "else" in her life, this follows,so my question is, do you think that it is the desire for all women to naturally want to have the best life imaginable, to have the perfect husband figure, have children, and be beautiful? Are these things innate for women? I think that they are innate because everyone wants to have the best life possible, and if they don't want this, they should. Why would anyone want to live a mediocre life, not having or making the most of what they can?
ReplyDeleteThe portion of reading over break focused a lot on Beli, Oscar and Lola's mom and the life she lived as a child. The later section then showed us how Oscar Wao is faring in college and how he attempted to kill himself. The last line in Part 1 says, "Nothing more exhilarating(he wrote) than saving yourself by the simple act of waking"(201). This line made me stop and think about the quote's relation to the events in this section. My question is, if Beli would have woken up after the incident with Jack P. would she have prevented her encounter with el Gangster and the Trujillos and if Oscar had chosen to face his reality and fears dead on, would both Beli and Oscar have saved themselves from all the pain and suffering they went through in life?Could they have saved themselves if they had just woken up?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Betsie's blog on (2/9/2011), I agree the information in the footnotes can be hilarious, but they are also helpful in allowing the reader to get a deeper sense of the culture that Junot Diaz is referring to in his writing. Not only did the footnotes catch my attention, but so did the author's intention and his word choice throughout his writing. A very significant passage was when Junot Diaz wrote "what Oscar at the end, would call Ground Zero of the New World" (1). Ground Zero was a location that once flourished, but became destroyed. I believe that Diaz intends to say that the New World's Santo Domingo once flourished and was a location that was essential to finances and business, but became a place of no importance.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading I came across an important passage where Lola was saying that "..we colored folks talk plenty shit about loving our children but we really don't" (Diaz 35). I agree with this statement because the culture in which Oscar is living in is putting a pedestal on women and being a "casanova" when they know he is struggling with self-image and inner confidence. When he asked his mother if he was ugly she responded with "Well, hijo, you certainly don't take after me" (30) rather than boosting his self-confidence. Also, at a time when he was emotionally hurt by losing his childhood love he wasn't caressed, but instead scolded at for displaying any sign of emotion a if he wasn't a human being. I can understand why a boy in such a culture would make the statement that Lola did, but as a girl how has Lola been treated by her parents? As a girl, what made her believe that "colored folks" don't really love their children?
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question about how Lola has been treated by her parents, I think that we can just look at her mother's life and we get the answer. Beli didn't even grow up with her parents, she lived with a foster family before being taken by La Inca, who tried to provide her with the best life that she could. Beli, was the one that chose to follow herself and what she thought she could achieve with her body, and because Beli is scarred, Lola has to learn to live her life on her own. Lola says that "you can never run away.Not ever. The only way out is in"(209), so I was wondering if you agree? Is the only way out from life, from difficult situations,etc to go in,to confront whatever you are trying to get away from? After confrontation, can you ALWAYS be released from what you are trying to flee or get away from?
ReplyDeleteIn response to Betsie's comment(Febraury 9th) I think that this is the first book that has captured my attention right away. At first when I heard this book was going to have footnotes I thought that it would be boring like all the footnotes that I have encountered in the past. I agree they are funny footnotes that give you background about the characters and a little history to help a reader, especially if they don't really know anything about Dominican history. In the beginning I was often contemplating whether I should stop reading to jump down to the footnotes and lose my flow. After I read the first few footnotes I stopped because I wanted to continue the flow and they seemed like a hassle in my opinion. Also I would like to talk about the way he inserts Spanish words in the book. I find that having a few Spanish words in there just enhances the literature because I feel like I'm getting a sense of the Dominican culture in some way. I've read literature that have had words from a different language other than English and I love how in this book you have the option to look up the words if you wanted to, but it's not an absolute necesity to look them up in order to get what is going on in the text. With many of the Spanish words I believe he makes it easy for readers to predict what the word means. For example " Trujillo would incur a fuku most powerfull, down to the seventh generation and beyond. If you even thought a bad thing about Trujillo, fua, a hurricane would sweep your family out to sea..." (Diaz, 3). In this example I know that fua is negative and that it's a curse.
ReplyDeleteTo respond to the February 16th comment about what women want in life, I just wanted to say all the things that Betsie has mentioned are what most wome want in life and are the typical things that should make them feel "fufilled" in life. Each woman's life is different, each woman has gone through their own experiences and struggles in life and I believe that they want a husband that can make them feel happy and secure . It means nothing if a woman has a handsome husband if the woman is unhapy. A couple should compliment each other emotionally and not just physically. Beli has probably looked at her life and wondered what else does she need because it seems that she has it all, but I think that is what she is missing. She is missing the emotional connection that should help her feel happy about the life that she is living. She has followed the checklist of what people expect that women should have in order to be successful, but I don't believe that she is following Her own checklist.
ReplyDeleteTo respond to Jodaelle's February 24th comment, I do believe that "coloured folk" do care about their children. In the beginning of the book I would have definitely agreed that they don't especially after reading that quote. In the beginning of the book when the readers are exposed to Oscar and Lola's mom as an example of a "coloured folk" it is easy to think that. I mean how could you not? When Lola got a haircut from her friend her mother yelled horrible things to Lola like "you're going to wear it every day. And if I see you without it on I'm going to kill you!" (Diaz 59) Then after when you read a little bit further when Lola is sent to her grandmother clearly cares about her grandchildren so I don't believe in that statement anymore. I feel like Lola's mom is just a special case. Also Lola is truly happy in the Dominican Republic which is a complete 180 from the way she felt when she was living with her mother.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Betsie's last comment I do believe that the only way out is the only way in. You have to confront whatever is bothering you in life to move forward. In the very first couple of pages in the book the narrator talks about the different fukus that seem to haunt every Latino family. He said that only when he started to research them is when his mother opened up about their family's fukus. When we actually get into the story there is a reoccuring pattern. It seems like the family doesn't like to talk about the past, the past that has so much pain and unhappiness. Through generations of not confronting their issues there seems to be a continuing disfunction that creeps through each generation. I believe that every generation's baggage has rolled over to the next generation. On page 211 it talks about how the family usually doesn't bring up the past. The passage says "when the family talks about it at all-which is like never-they always begin in the same place: with Abelard and the Bad Thing he said about Trujillo."
ReplyDeleteA important topic that Diaz has everywhere in this book is definitely the topic of women.On page 236, Diaz writes, "but Lydia never stopped trying to convince him, in a low-intensity way that love was love and for that reason it should be obeyed". This is out last post on this book so I just wanted to introduce this idea, so that we could think about as a group what Diaz's messages are or what his message is when talking specifically about women. In my opinion, women in the Dominican culture have had a profound influence on Oscar and on Diaz as well.
ReplyDeleteWher did Belicia's anger stem from? Is it from her past? Was sge mistreated in the same way that she is now mistreating Lola? "From ages two to thirteen I believed her and because I believed her I was the perfect hija" (56). Why did Lola change at age thirteen? I believe it was more than just something sudden. She encountered a mental growth and realization. Her gullible eyes opened up and she became much wiser. But why did it happen at the age of thirteen? My thought was that puberty was the cause. Around that age childreen/teens begin to rebel and that is what Lola was doin--rebelling against her mother. In a way, she is not completely free from her mother because her actions are still based on Beli. Although she has put an end to the cleaning, the cooking, and the obeying she is acting rebellious in response to her mother. Her behavior is a reflection of her mother and not her free will.
ReplyDelete"What a world she spun! Beli talked of parties and pools and polo games and dinners where bloody steak was heaped onto plates and grapes were as common as tangerines" (86). Beli's life seemed as if it was happy and not lacking anything. When she arrrived to America all she has been focused on is work; her rebellious child, Lola; and her cancer diagnosis. It seems as if coming to America, the country that is believed to be filled with many opportunities also brings about stress and sadness in one's life because life focuses on the economy and not happiness. Many immigrants are in similar situations as Beli where life wasn't too difficult in their homeland, but after coming to America they became more stressed and must deal with asssimilating to the new cultural surroundings although they don't wnat to. Why do immigrants continue to use America even though the country is filled with hardships?
ReplyDeleteIn response to everyone's talks about footnotes, I actually really enjoyed reading them! Not only did I get a better sense and understanding of what was going on in the book, I was also able to learn more about what Diaz was thinking and refrencing to as he wrote this novel. You usually don't see footnotes in fiction books like this, but I think this part of his writing style actually improved the quality and was just a benenfit in the longrun. I learned so much more about the Dominican culture and its connections throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Betsie's Febuary 16th post, I do think it is desirable for all women to want what is best for their family and everything around them. Women have always been seen as the caretakers for as long as we can remember in society, and they want to be able to take care of their family properly. On top of this, woem want to be beautiful as well. I believe this is because women want to be seen as desirable in mens eyes. Not only should they fufil the wishes of their family duties, but they want to make their husband happy as well. If a woman is seen as beautiful, she is more likely to attract a husband, and therefore is one step closer to achieve that goal of raising the perfect family and having the perfect life. Diaz portrays Beli as this ideal women in this novel-searching for the life that most everyone wants.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jodaelle's Febuary 28th post, I completely disagree with the quote "..we colored folks talk plenty shit about loving our children but we really don't" (Diaz 35). I think that this quote generalizes about every colored person in the world, when in fact, its not true at all. Although in this book, it may seem as though the Dominican culture doesn't, or more specifically, how Lola was raised doesn't reflect how all colored people raise their children. I think that it is more based on Beli's past. She never had a mother to care for her, so in response, she didn't really know how to raise Lola correctly. But in the long run, Lola learning to live on her own and defend herself with actually benefit her.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Betsie mentioning that Lola says that "you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in"(209, I think that it is necessary to confront all of your problems, instead of running away. If you just run away from every single challenge you face throughout your lifetime, you will never learn from your mistakes or grow as a person. Your fears will soley just keep building up and you won't get anywhere with your life. Confronting your problems may not always give you the best outcome, however you have to be willing to take that chance and face the consequences for whatever your actions are. I think Lola has learned a valuable lesson, especially since she raised herself as a child without Beli's constant motherly care.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Betsie's last post, I think that Diaz's messages about women in this novel are very strong. One topic/theme that keeps being brought up and shown throughout this book is the hardships that women have to face. Whether its Lola not having the ideal lifestyle as a child, or Beli struggling to make ends meet for her family, I think it all comes down to Dominican culture and how women are portrayed in it. This obviously has had a huge effect on Diaz since he is Dominican and grew up in the Dominican Republic. Coming from a poor country and watching the women around him struggle, I think must have been the basis for where he got his ideas for the women characterized in this book.
ReplyDelete