“The Inextinguishable Longing for Elsewhere”

             In the Dominican culture, a mask is almost required in order to survive. Because of the almost punishing family environments and the need to inflict fear or be called weak and outcast from society, there is a perpetual desire within Dominicans. A desire to be someone else, to be somewhere else, to always want what they don’t have.

            Oscar’s longing manifests itself in a more physical way. He cuts his hair, shaves his mustache, and strives to lose weight in order to achieve the life of a masculine, popular Dominican rather than the ghetto-nerd with a Puerto Rican afro that society has dropkicked out of the center. His refusal to be abusive towards women sets him apart from any other male figure in the story, but is also a barrier to achieving a true Dominican “man card.” He even said when he finally showed some backbone, rather than crawling “voluntarily back into the abuse [of his friends] out of fear and loneliness,” he felt more like a man (33). He longs to be the hero he finds in his science fiction books, and spends his days zooming off to those faraway lands where he can design his life and where people will love and accept him.

            Lola strives to get away with a conflicting mix of using sex for power and of refusing to be a typical Dominican woman. She spits on the stereotype of a dependent, long-haired Dominican beauty who can’t function without her mother and a man, shaving her head and exhibiting strength through her attractiveness. However, in that role she falls into many abusive relationships (per the stereotype), and longs to be elsewhere. She longs to be away from her mother who never thinks she’s good enough – even when Lola is in amazing shape, her mother still calls her ugly constantly (208). In that desire for independence, in that desire for power, she utilizes her sexuality to lure $2,000 out of her friend’s father (205). Her conflicting actions lead her to feel a loss of identity and an increasing longing for one.

            The Dominican tendency to always hide one’s true self leads to a perpetual desire to be someone else; to be elsewhere. In a world driven by dissatisfaction, there is a never-ending need to improve themselves and a consuming security in the hearts of the characters. The “inextinguishable longing for elsewhere,” as Lola describes, is an overwhelming aspect of the Dominican culture and fuels every relationship, causing men to be abusive, women to be oppressed, and everyone to feel dissatisfied.