Sunday, April 15, 2012
Will the family curse ever end?
We talked a little in class about whether Oscar's death ended the curse that seems to have fallen on this family. It seems the answer is no. Yunior gives a dreaded premonition that it will carry on to the next generation affecting Lola's daughter. Lola's daughter wears a necklace to protect her from harm "But on a string around her neck: three azabaches: the one that oscar wore as a baby, the one Lola wore as a baby and the one that Beli was given by La Inca" (329). Yunior implies that this necklace will only be able to shield her for so long. He says "One day, though, the Circle will fail," (330) and when it does Isis will be exposed to the No Face Man. But Yunior also is hopeful in that she will be able to stop the misfortune that has fallen the family "And maybe, just maybe, if she's as smart and as brave as I'm expecting she'll be, she'll take all we've done and all we've learned and add her own insights and she'll put an end to it" (331). Yunior's insight gives the book a very ambiguos ending leaving the reader to question if this family will ever break free from this curse. It has affected every generation of this family. It didn't end after Abelard was tortured to death at the hands of Trujillo. It didn't end after Beli was nearly beaten to death. It didn't end after Oscar was beaten to death. So what will Isis be able to do to put an end to it?
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I think that this is one of the open-endings of this book. I think that Diaz wants us to hope for Isis, but ultimately leaves the choice up to his character Isis. The book ends with our high hopes for her to succeed, just as each character began with hope. This doesn't bode well for Isis, as the other characters were unable to escape the cycle, but leaving it ambiguous gives the book a note of triumph rather than tragedy.
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