The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao attacks the assumption that American identity, or any national or personal identity, is uniform. What other assumptions do you think the novel attacks? Why would it be important for Diaz to unravel these assumptions?

Within the large umbrella category of identity, Junot Diaz addresses elements of race, nationality, place of residence, gender, age and generation, and disability, among others. The author shows how different combinations of factors work together to shape an individual’s experience but cannot fully account for their personality or their life trajectory. The experiences of many Dominicans in their US neighborhoods, as well as the political repression and economic deprivation they fled back home, shaped their possible futures. The specific way that any one person handles these burdens is represented by the physical weight that afflicts the character of Oscar. As other characters positively interact with him, however, the reader is encouraged, for a while, to have confidence in the redemptive power of love. This idea seems connected to the assumption that emotional support can salvage any experience, which Diaz seems to reject.
Oscar’s outsider status leads him to seek love from Ybón, another outsider, which draws the negative attention that finally kills him.
The author’s approach challenges an assumption that fate—or in this case the fukú curse—would determine any individual outcome. The power of imagination to change a person’s understanding of their place in the world is an important theme, but Diaz also rejects the idea that the power of mind alone can overcome physical and social limitations. Oscar Wao, who immerses himself in literature, takes his name from Oscar Wilde, a man who not only enriched the world through his literature but suffered persecution for his sexuality. By drawing this connection, Diaz emphasizes the role of justice and its uneven application in society. Oscar’s alienation from social pressure and discrimination takes the route of escape into the fictional worlds that literature provides. At the same time, however, as he internalizes the negative opinions of those who bully him, he forms a negative self-image that is compounded by unhealthy behaviors which, in turn, exacerbate his health issues. Although Diaz does not dwell on Oscar’s habits, the implication of personal involvement in health decisions is an undercurrent.