Submitted by: Submitted by tennis901
Views: 133
Words: 715
Pages: 3
Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 04/28/2014 08:46 PM
In his novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz examines and references the ideas of gender roles and closely relates them to sexuality. This specific passage in the novel portrays the sexual experience of a main character, Beli. Though everyday gender stereotypes exist in society today, they seem to be different in the Dominican Republic culture. Through the description of Beli’s experience of losing her virginity, we see that females in the novel seem to have developed a somewhat compliant attitude towards male sexuality.
In this specific passage located on page 100 and in the chapter titled “Numero Uno”, the male in the passage, Jack Pujol, is Beli’s supposed “lover”. In the last two lines, the narrator tells us that Beli tries to show him affection after they have sex, “she tried to embrace him, to touch his silken hair”. Beli’s efforts to “embrace” Jack show the innate desire to make connections with individuals in ways other than just physically or sexually. Jack responds to Beli’s innocent attempts selfishly, demanding for her to “hurry up and get dressed”, complaining that “[his] ass will be in the fire”. Jacks tone suggests that he believes that he is superior to Beli, as he neglects to address her properly, and instead he rudely rushes her, telling her what to do. Jack also makes the selfish statement that he will get in trouble, “If we get caught my ass will be in the fire”. Jack only thinks of himself, “my ass”, showing no concern of Beli and her well-being. Jacks role in his sexual relationship with Beli seems to make him think that it is okay to treat women, or Beli in particular, in such rude ways. From Jacks arrogant and somewhat degrading behavior, we can see that both he and Beli live within a culture where males are more “powerful” than females, and where their power stems from sexuality.
Contrary to the way that people believe that women should react to males like Jack, Beli seems to be okay with the way she is treated....