A common
theme throughout The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is the curse that has
been lingering in Oscar’s family tree for generations. This curse goes by the
name of fukú and “it is believed
that the arrival of Europeans on Hispaniola unleashed the fukú on the world”
(Díaz 1). Once plagued with this curse, the family that is affected will
experience dreadful disasters; but there is still hope for the Cabral family.
The “one surefire counterspell that would keep [the Cabral] family safe” goes
by the name of zafa and it is what provides a silver lining to this cursed family (Díaz
7).
Fukú and zafa are present throughout
the collection of short stories, but they appear in the form of a man with no
face and a golden mongoose. The first time the readers are introduced to fukú
is when Beli is confronted by The Gangster’s wife and dragged into a mob car by
two men who work for Trujillo. In a moment of hope, she spotted a cop who could help her sitting
in a car, but “when he turned toward her she saw that he didn’t have a face” (Díaz 141). This man with no face represents
the fukú in her family because in her one time of need, the only person who
could help her is stripped of his recognition. He is a reminder that the curse
is there and it always knows where she is.
Beli’s beating is almost exactly
replicated years later when Oscar is taken by men to the same field because he
was getting too close to a policeman’s girlfriend. Once beaten to the brink of
death like his mother, Clives arrives at the field to save Oscar. Due to the
darkness he could not find Oscar’s location; it was not until he “heard someone
singing” and followed that noise that he arrived upon Oscar’s beaten body (Díaz
300). This singing was the zafa at work and more than likely a mongoose leading
Clives to Oscar’s location.
Fukú has been present in Oscar’s
family line since Beli’s father was arrested by Trujillo. It is a terrible curse
that leads to the death of an overwhelming majority of his family and friends.
But amidst all of this terror and heartbreak, there is a silver lining: a
mongoose. Zafa is the cure to the curse and provides the reader with the
assurance that even though Oscar’s family is cursed, there is hope for
everyone.
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