ESSAY 1 DRAFT

Jesenia Arzaga
Professor Cummins
English 1036
February 15, 2018
Essay 1 draft
In the book The brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Diaz writes literary references to establish a pop culture context for his story. He used four references such as Marvel and DC comics, Lord of the Rings, Classical Literature, and Manga/ Anime. Diaz wrote specific quotes that relates to these references. Each of these references have an importance of being in the book. Many people don’t know what any of these references are, to understand, “anime" in Japan technically means any animated film, and "manga" is any printed cartoon, but people in the rest of the world take them to mean animated films or comics from Japan (Rei).  A work of classical literature refers only to ancient Greek and Roman works, while classics refer to great works of literature throughout the ages (Lombardi). Lord  of the rings is based off a comic book and was turned into a movies series. A short story about it id a character named  Gandalf discovers the Ring is in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it. Diaz uses lord of the rings to in order to create parallel contrasts between Oscar and Trujillo to the Elves and Sauron, as well as use the Ring as a symbol for sexuality (Person). Marvel and DC comics are all about the super heros Superman (DC) vs. Hulk (Marvel), Spider-Man (Marvel) vs. Superboy (DC), Batman (DC) vs. Captain America (Marvel), Wolverine (Marvel) vs. Lobo (DC), Storm (Marvel) vs. Wonder Woman (DC). In his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Marvel and DC comics are the most popular out of all of these references. Diaz uses Marvel and DC comics quotes to relate to  oscars life.

Oscar was seen as a huge nerdy guy “you couldn’t have tour him away from and movie or TV show or cartoon where there were monsters or spaceships or mutants or doomsday devices or destinies or magic or evil villains” he was obsessed with fiction (p. 21). This shows how dedicated Oscar was to learn about the world he was obsessed about. Oscar obsession to Marvel and DC comics was important to include with the references  in the novel because it showed what type of person/ character he is. He seems to be an overweight, lonely, and nerdy guy. There isn’t any doubt that Oscar embraces his entertainment based on fantasy, adventure, and science fiction. Throughout the novel, Yunior discusses Oscar’s obsession with games like Dungeons and Dragons, anime, and science fiction and fantasy novels. Oscars character is in love with comics like Marvel, Diaz shows this, he writes that Oscar "Could write in Elvish, could speak Chakobsa, could differentiate between a Slan, a Dorasai, and a Lensman in acute detail, knew more about the Marvel Universe than Stan Lee, and was a role-playing game fanatic" (p.21). It not hard to argue that Oscar cant handle reality so, he puts himself in a world make believe. Oscar enjoys the world of the fantastic but he seems aware of his own shortcomings. Oscar does not have an unrealistic image of himself as a great lover. His shortcomings in romance aren’t from lack of trying but arguably from trying too hard. His quest to find love is admirable and heroic, fitting in with the heroes he admires in the world of the fantastic. The world Oscar embraces is not so much for escapism as it is to embrace the ideals he knows he cannot find in the world he lives in. While Oscar Wao seems immersed in a world of make-believe, it can be argued that Belicia (“Beli”), Yunior, and Abelard are the characters lost in fantasy worlds….  (NEED TO FINISH).

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