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Amy Montes

Eng 305

Dr. Andrew Kalaidjian

17 May 2018

The Intertwine of Marxism and Multiculturalism

The combination of Marxism and Multiculturalism makes a greater understanding than

Marxism on it's own or Multiculturalism on it's own. These two critical methods help the reader

understand Junot Diaz’s ​The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. ​Marxism is created by Karl

Marx. Karl Marx argues that marxism is, “ is the means of production controls a society’s

institutions and beliefs, contended that history is progressing toward the eventual triumph of

communism(Dobie p.87).” Reading material from a Marxist perspective connects economic

power, materialism versus spirituality, class conflict, and art, literature and ideologies all

together to make up this perspective. Multiculturalism (Cultural Studies) is difficult defining

what cultural actually means. Dobie said, “ cultural studies can be said to address an almost

unthinkably broad body of knowledge:language, customs, legal systems, literature, and more.(pg

179).” Dobie as well explains the intent of cultural studies is “ to connect historical, social, and

economic knowledge surrounding the topic(pg. 179).” Reading material from a Historicist

perspective connects the word of the author and text, discourses in text, and the intentions and

reception to make up this perspective called Multiculturalism. These two critical tools create a

unique interpretation of Diaz’s novel by connecting two themes throughout the novel together

and separate. These two themes are the Fuku and Trujillo who create a Marxism and

Multiculturalism perspective throughout Diaz’s novel.

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FUKU

In the article called, ​Coding the Immigrant Experience: Race, Gender, and the Figure of

the Dictator in Junot Diaz’s “Oscar Wao”​ written by Fremio Sepulveda explains what the Fuku

is and how the people of the Caribbean believed in this curse. Sepulveda says, “ The fuku curse

illustrates how the people of the Caribbean have used folk stories and legends in order to

construe and explicate the history of colonialism, the end of the European imperialistic

enterprise, and the ongoing struggle to form independent nation-states(Sepulveda pg22).” In this

passage the author is explaining how the fuku curse was used in the Caribbean. Sepulveda says,

“ Moreover, the fuku acts as a unifying force within the novel, connecting the family through the

multiple generations of bad luck and tragedy(Sepulveda pg 22).” The author explains that the

fuku is the reason why families deal with bad luck and tragedy. This article connect to novel of

Junot Diaz because the connection of how the fuku has affected the main characters by bad luck

and tragedy.

The fuku was in fact true and Oscar believed in the curse. The narrator explains the

reason why he isn’t liked by girls is because of the “fuku” (curse of doom). The narrator says,

“ It seems to Oscar that from the moment Maritza dumped him--Shazam!his life started going

down the tubes(pg16).” In this passage the narrator explains that Oscar believes Maritza

dumping him has cursed him. The narrator explains how Oscar physical appearances scared girls

and they called him names like “dorky, shy, weird, and gordo asqueroso (pg 17)”. The narrator

says ,“Did that mean she avoided the curse--that she was happier than Oscar and Olga(pg 18).”

In this passage the narrator explains that Oscar does believes he cursed because the beautiful girl

that dumped him isn't living a curse life like himself. The theme of this passage connects to the
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multiculturalism because it explains a curse that Oscar believes it's true due to his family's past

stories with the fuku.

The theme of the Fuku connects to Multiculturalism because the “curse of doom” called

the fuku is a cultural colonization to the people of the Caribbean. Cultural Colonization is “ the

imposition of the beliefs and social practices of a dominant power on a subjugated one.” The

people of the Caribbean believe in this curse of doom. Oscar from Junot Diaz’s believe in this

curse, that this curse of doom is what has caused all the bad tragedy in his family. Oscar believes

his whole bloodline is cursed by the Fuku because it began with his grandfather and grandmother

who got cursed by the Fuku.

TRUJILLO

In an article called, ​Dictating a Zafa: The power of Narrative Form in Junot Diaz’s The

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao​ written by Jennifer Harford Vargas explains,

“ a dictator-centric character system for a character-system centered on marginalized

subjects. Diaz’s novel thus alters the correlation in the character-system between

character-space, socioeconomic status, and socio-political power(Vargas pg.12).”

In this passage Vargas explains that Trujillo is apart of all these character systems and that he

affects all these systems although he is a minor character throughout most of Diaz’s novel.

Vargas goes into further explanation by saying that Trujillo is, “a symbol of dictatorial power

and violence, Trujillo has an ominous, haunting presence( Vargas pg. 13).” In this passage

Vargas is explaining that Trujillo has an overpowering presence in the characters lives in Diaz’s

novel.
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Trujillo was a dominating minor character who made his presence known throughout the

novel. The narrator explains that Trujillo is the reason why Oscar mother Beli was an orphan.

The narrator says, “ the fact that her long gone parents had died when she was one, the whispers

that Trujillo had done it (pg 80).” In this passage the narrator explains that Trujillo is the reason

why Beli is an orphan because later on in the novel the reader discovers that Trujillo caused

Oscar grandparents to take their own lives and leave Beli as an orphan.

The theme of Trujillo connects to the Marxism perspective because the characters in this

novel are haunted by an overpowering dictator called Trujillo. Trujillo falls into the category of

an ideology. An ideology is, “ a belief system. It's a set of values which people see the world

they live in and explain why it exists. All the characters throughout Diaz’s experience this

ideology of Trujillo, how everything happens because of Trujillo. All the characters bad karma is

because of Trujillo regime. The characters believe that their lives are the way they have become

because of Trujillo and his communist dictatorship in the Dominican Republic.

TRUJILLO AND THE FUKU

In the article called,​ Coding the Immigrant Experience: Race, Gender, and the Figure of

the Dictator in Junot Diaz’s “Oscar Wao”​ written by Fremio Sepulveda explains what the Fuku

and how it connects to Trujillo. Sepulveda says, “To Dominicans living under a state-sponsored

apparatus of terror and violence even pronouncing Trujillo’s name carries a fuku(pg 22).” In this

passage the author is explaining that Trujillo and the fuku are connected and the people of the

Dominican Republic feared even saying his name because it came with consequences. Trujillo

was the fuku.

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In the article called, ​Conjectures on “Americanity” and Junot Diaz’s “Fukus

Americanuus” in the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao​ written by Jose David Saldivar explains

that Trujillo is the cause of the fuku on the Cabral-De Leon family. Saldivar explains that

Trujillo and the fuku are called “natural-supernaturalism(Saldivar pg 130).” In this passage the

narrator is saying that the fuku and Trujillo come hand to hand, that if your family gets in the

way of Trujillo be expected to be cursed by the Fuku.

Trujillo is the reason why the fuku exists. The narrator is explaining what the fuku is and

how it might connect to the dictator of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic called Trujillo. The

narrator says, “ Anyone who plotted against Trujillo would incur a fuku most powerful, down to

the seventh generation and beyond (pg3).” In this passage the narrator explains that the country

of the Dominican Republic is ruled by a dictator called Trujillo. Trujillo is a very powerful man

that can put fuku on families and people. That some people believed that trujillo and the fuku are

connected. In this passage it connects to the theme of marxism because it explains dictatorship

and ruling over people. Through the use of Trujillo and the fuku, “ If you ever thought a bad

thing about Trujillo, fua a hurricane would sweep your family out to sea,fua, a boulder would fall

out of a clear sky and squash you,fua.(pg3).”

The Fuku and Trujillo on there own connect to Marxism and Multiculturalism, but when

they come together it shows a whole different perspective on the novel. These two themes

together empower Diaz’s novels. The explanation of Trujillo in the footnotes helps the reader

understand that the people of the novel are overruled by a higher power who dictates their lives

in Santo domingo and connects to the Marxism theme. The explanation of the fuku at the

beginning of the novel helps the reader visualize and understand what the fuku is to the
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characters in Diaz’s novel. These two themes create a unique interpretation of the novel because

when the Fuku is dispersed throughout the novel, Diaz connects it to Trujillo and how the

dictator of Santo Domingo has something to do with this curse called the Fuku.

Work Cited

Dobie, A. (2012). ​Theory Into Practice: An Introduction to Literary Criticism​ (Fourth ed.).

Díaz, Junot, 1968-. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. New York :Riverhead Books, 2007.
Print.

Saldívar, José David. “Conjectures on ‘Americanity’ and Junot Díaz's ‘Fukú Americanus’ in ​The
Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao.​ ” ​The Global South,​ vol. 5, no. 1, 2011, pp. 120–136.
JSTOR,​ JSTOR, ​www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/globalsouth.5.1.120​.

Sepulveda, Fremio. “Coding the Immigrant Experience: Race, Gender and the Figure of the
Dictator in Junot Diaz's ‘Oscar Wao.’” ​Journal of Caribbean Literatures,​ vol. 7, no. 2, 2013, pp.
15–33. ​JSTOR​, JSTOR, ​www.jstor.org/stable/43672608​.

Vargas, Jennifer Harford. “Dictating a Zafa: The Power of Narrative Form in Junot Díaz's ‘The
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.’” ​MELUS​, vol. 39, no. 3, 2014, pp. 8–30.,
www.jstor.org/stable/24569858​.