In these next few chapters we hear the voices of Yunior, Lola, Oscar and the stories of Abelard, his wife Socorro and his two daughters Jackie and Astrid. The ordering of these personal anecdotes/tales seems to be strategic, in that the story is told, in a way, through a family friend then to family members all the way down to the actual story of the famed and frequently mentioned Cabrals.
Yunior's point of view provided a fresh look into the world of Oscar, which as we all know is one of self-deprecation, self-pity and self-loathing. This look into to Oscars like allowed the readers to extract themselves from the cesspool that is Oscar's psyche long enough to see the presumed "fuku" at work on the exterior. Oscar's suicide attempt, I felt, was inevitable. He is tragically inclined to be hopeless, Lola was gone and it was only a matter of time. But beyond getting to know Oscar's story a bit better we got to know Yunior a bit too. There were hints of his having a difficult past and so on, which opened up that character a bit.
Lola's perspective, as usual, provided a more mature, even maternal vibe.It was interesting getting to see how she went about pursuing this destiny that she so longed for. In a particular moment of wisdom Lola realizes, unlike Oscar, that running away is not the answer: "But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in." (TBWLOW, pg.209) Lola's realizations that her mother "could not have been any different" (TBWLOW, pg.208) seemed to be a neutralizer to the supernatural theories that preoccupied the "old-school" Dominicans like her mother, in that she was accepting her mother's nature rather than blaming her ill fortune (which stemmed from her supposedly cursed mother) on the fuku. I think that in accepting her mother for who she was Lola, at least on her own part, lifted her own burden somewhat and did what the others did not by looking within to become her own zafa.
The story of the Cabrals (Abelard and his family) was a compelling one. The series of events that followed his arrest seem to be undoubtedly point to some supernatural intervention. But one must ask when reading about this family, is it not more unusual that they lived in such good fortune for as long as they did under the rule of Trujillo than the fact that they at some point met their doom? I think it is. However unfortunate, the Cabral family suffered an ill fate like the narrator has described of so many other people. After all, there is nothing supernatural about bad fortune in a country whose dictatorial leader has an impossible grip on it's every aspect.
What I did find interesting was that however great Abelard's mind was, his will to rise against the establishment was non-existent. That, to me, makes a powerful statement about the anemia of the DR, where a man with every gift, natural and material, in his possession has no inclination to light the flame of a hope of revolution.
It seems the Trujillo;s effect on the DR is everlasting; at least in the way that Diaz portrays it. "For Trujillo is not a man. He is...a cosmic force..." (TBWLOW, pg.204) Which brings it all back to the supernatural. The fuku. He had a grip on the DR so extraordinary that people sought explanation outside of their known world. What that must do to a culture, and to a people is mind blowing. I believe that is what Diaz is trying to communicate to the reader.
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