Secondary Source Blog Post
Ontiveros, R. (2008). A Fusion of attractiveness. American Book Review, 29(5), Retrieved from http://blackboard.strose.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_8_1
1. In the article fusion of Attractiveness, the author’s argument is that in the text The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is, Oscar is a new type of American. The author identifies him as an American who has assimilated to the point where he fits in nowhere. In providing this argument the author discusses Oscar’s character as a whole. He goes into details about the characteristics of Oscar such as how he has no sense of belonging and is criminally bad with women.
2. In forming his argument the author brings up the main points about how Oscar was an obese kid who never left the world of Doctor Who and Dungeons & Dragons and in the end was cursed because he had so much food and fantasy in his life but no father figure. His obsession for fantasy and food kept him from love and separated him from the world of success. His lack of a father figure also has an impact. The author almost implies the belief that if Oscar had a present father figure in his life he would have not turned out the way he was. That a father figure would have provided him with a model of who he should be and how he should act. These two points support the author’s argument in that they address the ways in which Oscar sets himself up so that he is unable to fit into society. His obsession and love of fantasy causes him to be viewed as an outsider who is unable to make his quirks work for him.
3. In reading the article there were a couple of ideas that people might find useful for their paper. The first idea presented by the author is the idea that fuku is simply a myth and that Oscar was cursed because he had it too easy. He did not have a father figure to look up to and to base his own life on and became enveloped in the world fantasy and food. Another idea presented by the author is that by including strong feminine points of view within the text it creates a balance between male-oriented loneliness and sense of lust within the text. The third idea I picked up in the text is that the author claims that the text is attempting to be a new kind of fiction. He expresses that it is a book about immigration, comic books, virginity and violence.
4. In reading this article, there are a couple points that could be used to support an argument. If someone was writing a paper on the absent father, they could use the quote in which the author says “Oscar is cursed because he kind of has it too easy. So much food and fantasy, but no father figure” to show how the absent father had an impact on how Oscar turns out. Another point that someone could use to support an argument would be the quote about how Oscar was a romantic with standards of beauty that are crazy. This quote could be used in a paper that addresses the theme of love. Oscar was a romantic and therefore lived for love. His romantic character could be used to support arguments about what love can do.
