Oscae Woa: Fuku and Zafa

Fukú and Zafa Just like a ghost in a haunted house, the Fukú is a curse haunting Oscar, the De Leon family, even Kennedy, due to the supernatural powers that Trujillo Molina, the ruthless dictator of the D.R. from 1930 to 1961, possessed. Any individual that “plotted against Trujillo would incur a Fukú most powerful, down to the several generation and beyond” (3). The curse was originated when Dr. Abelard Luis Cabral didn’t follow Trujillo’s orders because he had to rescue his daughter from rape. As a consequence, he was sent to a prison that was notorious. His wife, Socorro, has a dream that foreshadows tragic events. In her dream, a “faceless man standing over her husband’s bed, but she could not scream, could not say anything, and then the next night she dreamed he was standing over her children” (237). The faceless man may be referred as an omen and a warning of horrific events that are soon to come, sort of like a grim reaper. Without a doubt, they all paid the price of death. The Fukú only appears during very crucial events that have an effect on the future. Belicia was beaten at one point and saw a cop who “didn’t have a face” (141). Oscar had a similar experience as his mother. He said he “was sure he was beaten by three men, not two, that the faceless man from in front of the colmado was joining them” (299). The Mongoose, however, is the Zafa; the counter spell that saves the de Leon family from death. At one point, Oscar attempts to commit suicide by jumping off the New Brunswick bride, and before him appeared the Mongoose. He ended up falling and hitting the grass divider rather than the road on either side of it. These are all instances of good and evil being taken into action throughout Junot Diaz’s book.