I don't think this was brought up by anyone in class or in blogs, which kind of surprises me, so I'll go ahead and make a brief post about it. Going back to two sections ago, the story made mention that Trujillo was assassinated the same night that Beli was beaten to pieces.
The same night that La Inca summoned up a prayer to end all prayers, a prayer so stunning in scope that it broke lesser beings who lent their spirits to it. The prayer that may or may not have been the sole reason that Beli survived the vicious beatings.
Yunior doesn't outright make the connection, which is unusual because he usually points out connections in his narration, but it seems that La Inca's prayer was so powerful that it not only saved the life of a girl who should have died, it turned the fukú back on Trujillo, stripped his life of its charm and ended it in a most violent fashion.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Irrelevant but it made me chuckle
Page 282, Oscar is talking to a woman named Ybón who has a tendency to be quickly forgotten, to quickly lose the attention of men she's with, something that she is thankful for. But, Yunior writes, "Her Jedi mind tricks did not work on Oscar."
You know who else is immune to Jedi mind tricks? Jabba the Hutt. And Yunior's asshole friend Melvin started comparing Oscar to Jabba back in their college days (177). Make of that what you will.
You know who else is immune to Jedi mind tricks? Jabba the Hutt. And Yunior's asshole friend Melvin started comparing Oscar to Jabba back in their college days (177). Make of that what you will.
[insert catchy title here]
Sorry, but running on a time restraint today! I had started to see a connection earlier in this book between the mothering styles of Beli and Edna from The Awakening. let's be honest, both of them were bad mothers. As much as I hated Edna though, I found Beli to be even more horrid of a person and mother. I can sympathize with the fact that Beli had a rough childhood. Anyone who could survive everything that Beli went through during her "dark years" deserves a little sympathy. The fact that she "never thought about that life again. Embraced the amnesia...embraced the power of the Untilles. And from it forged herself anew" (258-259) is commendable. It does not, however, negate the fact that as a mother she was entirely useless. I can understand that when all a person knows is pain and hatred that it is hard to show love, but there is only so much physical and mental abuse that anyone, let alone your own children, can take before they distance themselves from that person. Not even saying "Just know that I would die for you" (72) was enough for Lola to want to have a closer relationship with Beli. At least with Edna, her children were not put through the wash-cycle of abuse that Beli put Lola and Oscar through. I still think that when a person goes through a life as tragic as Beli did that it is no wonder that her psyche would be turned upside down. I believe that if Beli lived in a time and place where she could have talked with someone about her past openly and freely, her life and her children's may have taken a different turn. What do you all think?
99 problems...
We talked today in class about the pressure that lies on a dictator for balance in their terror campaign; not enough fear and the peasants revolt, too much fear and they revolt. While this is a pressure there are ways to make it easier, and Trujillo has them down. The first is to target another group that is somewhat separate from your populace, but is similar enough to make them fear the charge. For Hitler it was the jews, for Trujillo, the haitians. This gives your people something to hate and fear.
Trujillo seems unaffected by this pressure and did whatever he pleased, but he is absorbed in and drunk with his own power. His pulling whatever women he wants lead to no resistance because of the Dominican hyper-masculinity that is present throughout the book. The populace is used to the hyper-masculinity and, because Trujillo is El Jefe, they process it as his balls are the biggest for him to be ruling.
Traditionally action is associated with manliness and masculinity, so it's odd that in a society where an exaggerated masculinity is the norm that no action is taken. In the face of El Jefe's masculinity the entire country is, like Abelard, reduced to "alternat[ing] between impotent rage and pathetic self-pity" (229). The entire hyper-masculine country is emasculated by the huevos of one man and his goons.
Trujillo seems unaffected by this pressure and did whatever he pleased, but he is absorbed in and drunk with his own power. His pulling whatever women he wants lead to no resistance because of the Dominican hyper-masculinity that is present throughout the book. The populace is used to the hyper-masculinity and, because Trujillo is El Jefe, they process it as his balls are the biggest for him to be ruling.
Traditionally action is associated with manliness and masculinity, so it's odd that in a society where an exaggerated masculinity is the norm that no action is taken. In the face of El Jefe's masculinity the entire country is, like Abelard, reduced to "alternat[ing] between impotent rage and pathetic self-pity" (229). The entire hyper-masculine country is emasculated by the huevos of one man and his goons.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Oscar and suicide
It is always tragic to hear about a kid who is bullied so much that they feel that the only escape for them is suicide. Not surprisingly, it is really sad to read about it as well, even if the book is fiction. Oscar is such a sympathetic character because he is ridiculed for being himself. Not for being a jerk or inconsiderate, but for being overweight, nerdy, and not living up to the Dominican male "ideal." While he seems to just let the chiding by basically everyone (even Lola, Beli, and Yunior) slide, it seems to really bottle up inside of Oscar. He does not want to be viewed as a failure in the Dominican sense, as he feels that he could be the only "Dominican male" to die "a virgin" (174). He must have been planning a suicide attempt, because, when Yunior tells him that no, no Dominican male has ever died a virgin, he laments, "That ... is what worries me" (174).
Oscar's suicide attempt does not seem to be spontaneous (or even brought on by the copious amount of alcohol Yunior provides for him), as Yunior clearly states that he knew he "should have stayed with him" that night (189). Needless to say, Yunior was right, as Oscar attempts suicide by jumping off a bridge. However, the key piece of the puzzle is that Oscar actually left suicide notes, proving that Oscar planned to commit suicide. This is a sad realization, brought on by numerous factors. Oscar seems to be directly reacting to his walk-in on the goth Jenny doing the dirty with someone other than him. However, his whole existence kind of culminates in that scene. Oscar, of macho Dominican blood, is, by everyone's standards, a big fat loser.
Yunior later reveals that "The fall after the Fall was dark" for Oscar (200). Oscar wanted to commit suicide again, but "he was afraid" (200). Yunior lists quite a few reasons why Oscar doesn't commit suicide, from his sister to the "possibility of a miracle" (200), but I see it differently. I think that Oscar starts to appreciate life, and how lucky he actually is to be alive. I have never really talked to anyone that has attempted suicide, but it seems to me that a failed attempt at suicide would "wake" an individual up to the glory of living. In fact, Oscar even says that "Nothing is more exhilarating ... than saving yourself by the simple act of waking" (201). Oscar indeed saved himself (for the time being-have yet to finish the book) by awaking from the nasty fall. Even though I know the outcome, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Oscar sees the miracle of life!
Oscar's suicide attempt does not seem to be spontaneous (or even brought on by the copious amount of alcohol Yunior provides for him), as Yunior clearly states that he knew he "should have stayed with him" that night (189). Needless to say, Yunior was right, as Oscar attempts suicide by jumping off a bridge. However, the key piece of the puzzle is that Oscar actually left suicide notes, proving that Oscar planned to commit suicide. This is a sad realization, brought on by numerous factors. Oscar seems to be directly reacting to his walk-in on the goth Jenny doing the dirty with someone other than him. However, his whole existence kind of culminates in that scene. Oscar, of macho Dominican blood, is, by everyone's standards, a big fat loser.
Yunior later reveals that "The fall after the Fall was dark" for Oscar (200). Oscar wanted to commit suicide again, but "he was afraid" (200). Yunior lists quite a few reasons why Oscar doesn't commit suicide, from his sister to the "possibility of a miracle" (200), but I see it differently. I think that Oscar starts to appreciate life, and how lucky he actually is to be alive. I have never really talked to anyone that has attempted suicide, but it seems to me that a failed attempt at suicide would "wake" an individual up to the glory of living. In fact, Oscar even says that "Nothing is more exhilarating ... than saving yourself by the simple act of waking" (201). Oscar indeed saved himself (for the time being-have yet to finish the book) by awaking from the nasty fall. Even though I know the outcome, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Oscar sees the miracle of life!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Belicia's Past
No time for a clever title, there are more important things to write about!
The revelation of what Belicia went through puts her character in a whole new light. Her life has been almost nothing but suffering, varying degrees of torment. Little wonder that she has belittled and abused her own children throughout their lives--she is so damaged by her experiences that all she can do is lash out and hurt those around her, even those who need her the most. "It was the sort of beating that breaks people, breaks them utterly," (147). That kind of damage taints a person forever, changes their core being and can make them into terrible people.
All of this does not excuse what she did to her children. It does not make her actions more sympathetic. She is still a terrible mother and a cruel, hateful shell of a person. It doesn't change my mind about her at all. But it does make me pity her. I've found that it's possible to hate a person entirely, but still feel pity for what has happened to them to make them so broken. Woo-jin from Oldboy, Sweeney Todd, Francis Dolarhyde from Red Dragon...it's possible to divorce the person that was from the person that is, and so feel the deepest remorse for what happened to someone but at the same time hate the monster that they've become.
Your thoughts?
The revelation of what Belicia went through puts her character in a whole new light. Her life has been almost nothing but suffering, varying degrees of torment. Little wonder that she has belittled and abused her own children throughout their lives--she is so damaged by her experiences that all she can do is lash out and hurt those around her, even those who need her the most. "It was the sort of beating that breaks people, breaks them utterly," (147). That kind of damage taints a person forever, changes their core being and can make them into terrible people.
All of this does not excuse what she did to her children. It does not make her actions more sympathetic. She is still a terrible mother and a cruel, hateful shell of a person. It doesn't change my mind about her at all. But it does make me pity her. I've found that it's possible to hate a person entirely, but still feel pity for what has happened to them to make them so broken. Woo-jin from Oldboy, Sweeney Todd, Francis Dolarhyde from Red Dragon...it's possible to divorce the person that was from the person that is, and so feel the deepest remorse for what happened to someone but at the same time hate the monster that they've become.
Your thoughts?
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Food in A Temporary Matter
The presence of food in "A Temporary Matter" was one of my class questions for that reading. After reading through it again, I think that a certain element that food serves is connection. It can be really REALLY good, or a disaster. I think that this is true for many things(work, sex, a marriage). The idea of eating is also very sensual. It involves taste, touch, sight, smell. You can even almost hear the food cooking in this story. It is such a strange juxtaposition of wonderful sounding food paired with a failing marriage and the death of their child. Food continues to even appear in their memories. When Shukumar is going through drawers. He finds candles and is reminded of his wife's birthday when she was five month's birthday. He remembers, "she made vanilla cream cake with custard and spun sugar. All night she kept Shukumar's long fingers linked with hers as the walked among the guests at the party" (Lahiri 9). These candles are re-lit when the power goes out and are used to illuminate their meal. I think that this is very significant. Maybe food represents nourishment in all forms. I suppose it could also represent sickness as well. Does the relighting of candles stand for Shukumar's attempt to rekindle the marriage, his wife's or neither?
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