The Fukú and the Dominican Culture of Belief

It is common in Hispanic cultures to believe in things that cannot be explained through logical reasoning.  In the United States, we might delegate these types of beliefs and stories to the fiction shelf, or chalk them up as simple myths.  The fukú is a prime example of this type of Hispanic story-telling, and the very real effects it can have on those who take stock in the tale.  This type of thinking permeates Dominican culture through religion as well.  Whereas religion might act as a medium of moral education and confidence to the Dominican people, much like it does in the United States, the fukú is a counteraction to this comfort.  Although not directly comparable to religion in all aspects, the primary point of comparison between these two belief systems is the presence of faith, and the critical role it plays in the continuity of tradition.  The Dominican people exhibit the qualities that lead to an inclination to latch onto this sort of "curse" story, much to the dismay of the characters we meet in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

The narrator of the story, Yunior, displays this inclination to embrace myth very clearly in the opening scenes of the book.  He explicitly connects the fukú with various tragedies in recent history, even attributing John F. Kennedy's assassination to the curse.  After establishing Trujillo as the "hypeman" of the fukú, he posits, "Who killed JFK? Let me, your humble Watcher, reveal once and for all... it was the fukú."  His observation shows the reader that his belief in the curse is so strong, that Yunior is willing to invest himself in an alternate version of history to explain its origins and ways.  This type of thinking is reflected in, and most likely gleaned from, his mother.  She outwardly acknowledges the family curse to her children, specifically to Lola, and prays for it to pass them over, though she holds little hope that it will.  As a condition of the family's often stressful situation, the tendency to blame a mysterious curse for tragedy becomes a reflex for coping with adversity.  Applied to the Dominican people as a whole, and especially those under the oppressive rule of Trujillo, this rationale becomes more understandable.  Readers gain this insight into the psyche of the poor and oppressed characters we read about in this story through the fukú, and in this respect the curse plays a vital role in our understanding of Dominican hardship.