Fuku—a Curse of Bad Consequences
Wei Wen
Professor Rowe
English 101
May 9, 2011
Fuku—a curse of bad consequences
“Fuku—generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World,” written in the Pulitzer Prize winning novel—The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is written by Junot Diaz (Diaz 1). If you make a bad choice, you will receive “fuku,” says Junot Diaz in the interview on Q TV (YouTube). In the interview with Slate Magazine, Diaz says that the novel “is all about the dangers of dictatorship” (Rourke 3). It describes how Oscar’s family’s three generations have been affected by the dictatorship of Trujillo who was the president of Dominican Republic and different other dictatorships by Yunior’s narration. There is no doubt that fuku is one of the most powerful dictatorships in this novel. According to the definition made by Junot in the interview on Q TV, fuku is “a curse of consequences” (YouTube). If you make a bad choice, fuku will befall you. Every day we need to make countless choices which cause countless consequences. Some consequences are good. Others are not. Like Yunior, the narrator of the novel, asks, “Why do you think the greatest power in the world lost its first war to a Third World country like Vietnam” (Diaz 4)? That’s fuku because America chooses to start a unjust war. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, we can see how Oscar’s family struggles under the dictatorship of fuku because they make bad choices.
Abelard is the first victim of fuku in his family. He falls in the hell of fuku because of the bad choices he makes. Yunior says, “It’s a well-documented fact that in Trujillo’s DR is you were of a certain class and you put your cute daughter anywhere near El Jefe, within the week she’d be mamando his ripio like an old pro…”(Diaz 217). Unfortunately, Abelard happens to have two cute daughters. Since knowing that Trujillo keeps an eye on his wife and daughters, Abelard keeps hiding them from Trujillo. Hiding
Professor Rowe
English 101
May 9, 2011
Fuku—a curse of bad consequences
“Fuku—generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World,” written in the Pulitzer Prize winning novel—The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is written by Junot Diaz (Diaz 1). If you make a bad choice, you will receive “fuku,” says Junot Diaz in the interview on Q TV (YouTube). In the interview with Slate Magazine, Diaz says that the novel “is all about the dangers of dictatorship” (Rourke 3). It describes how Oscar’s family’s three generations have been affected by the dictatorship of Trujillo who was the president of Dominican Republic and different other dictatorships by Yunior’s narration. There is no doubt that fuku is one of the most powerful dictatorships in this novel. According to the definition made by Junot in the interview on Q TV, fuku is “a curse of consequences” (YouTube). If you make a bad choice, fuku will befall you. Every day we need to make countless choices which cause countless consequences. Some consequences are good. Others are not. Like Yunior, the narrator of the novel, asks, “Why do you think the greatest power in the world lost its first war to a Third World country like Vietnam” (Diaz 4)? That’s fuku because America chooses to start a unjust war. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, we can see how Oscar’s family struggles under the dictatorship of fuku because they make bad choices.
Abelard is the first victim of fuku in his family. He falls in the hell of fuku because of the bad choices he makes. Yunior says, “It’s a well-documented fact that in Trujillo’s DR is you were of a certain class and you put your cute daughter anywhere near El Jefe, within the week she’d be mamando his ripio like an old pro…”(Diaz 217). Unfortunately, Abelard happens to have two cute daughters. Since knowing that Trujillo keeps an eye on his wife and daughters, Abelard keeps hiding them from Trujillo. Hiding
Cited: Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. New York: Riverhead, 2007. Print. O 'Rourke, Meghan. "Questions for Junot Díaz. - By Meghan O 'Rourke." Slate Magazine. 8 Nov. 2007. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.slate.com/id/2177644/pagenum/all/#p2>. "YouTube - Junot Diaz on Q TV." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 3 Feb. 2009. Web. 25 Apr. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kc78fZQ3QM>.