Something that I found intriguing about the style of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is
that Diaz never places quotation marks around quotes. Additionally, he does not
follow the typical rules of composition when he includes multiple quotes from
different characters in the same paragraph rather than beginning a new
paragraph when a new character speaks. Why does Diaz vary the structure so much
and why doesn’t he follow the typical rules for quotes?
First, I think that Diaz has intentionally neglected to
utilize quotation marks in his writing in order to place emphasis not on the
words being spoken but the ideas surrounding the situation as a whole. For
example on page 14 when Oscar is interacting with Maritza and Olga, Diaz
writes, “One day after school Maritza cornered Oscar behind the swing set and
laid down the law, It’s either her or me!”
In this case, the paragraph as a whole is supposed to focus on the fact that
Oscar was a “player” who “dated” two girls at once when he was young. It does
not really matter exactly what the girls said and in order to remove emphasis
from this, there are not quotes around the phrase Maritza says, nor is the
quote separated from the paragraph. In doing this, Diaz is able to condense his
ideas into small sections of one or two paragraphs rather than spanning over
many pages.
Additionally, not using quotation marks and throwing
everything into a single paragraph portrays the novel as very colloquial and
laid back. With multiple stories being told in a row, each story easily flows
from one to another. When reading the book, it is as if someone is speaking to
the reader directly in a casual conversation. The characters are far from
proper, using a lot of slang and vulgar language as seen when one word is used
in at least six dozen instances throughout the book (page 12 footnotes for
example), and when Diaz ignores what is usually considered proper grammar, this
concept of informality is further portrayed.
Along the lines of informality, the story is told from the
perspective of Yunior. Yunior is a rather lazy, sex obsessed, college student.
Consequently, he is not proper either and would not care to take the time to
make the writing proper. In fact, he is a writer, but is much less passionate
about it than Oscar. Being less interested, his writing would not be as good as
Oscar’s so it is possible that Diaz wanted the book to be less grammatically
structured to portray how Yunior would have written it himself.
Overall, it really stood out to me that Diaz did not use
quotes nor did he separate paragraphs according to different speakers and
because I noticed it so much, I think it is a significant detail of the novel.
I think it increases the tone of informality and further connects readers with
the narrator, Yunior. Additionally, the emphasis is not on specifics but rather
on main ideas.
As a person who always places commas where they belong, even in text messages, it initially bothered me that Díaz casts aside proper grammar conventions in favor of a more provincial tone. It can occasionally be confusing when there is a list of dialogue with no quotation marks, especially when Díaz fails to identify who is speaking. An example of this occurs during Beli’s first encounter with Juan: “What’s my salary? Salary! No salary! You are a waitress, you tips” (104). Even though Díaz does not spell out who is saying what, however, I do agree that the context of the situation is more important than the dialogue. Upon rereading these lines, any reader can understand that Beli is the one inquiring about a job’s pay while Juan is clearly her stingy boss. I agree that most characters, including Beli, are improper in their speech and actions, whether it be demanding a salary upon first entering an establishment or remaining vague about said salary in broken language.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if Díaz opts for improper colloquialisms and a lack of quotation marks to immerse us in the culture and language. Like Courtney said earlier, when we’re finally introduced to Yunior as the narrator, we cannot help but imagine ourselves in his shoes. We’re now able to understand his love for Lola and frustrated affection for Oscar, and his casual slang shapes him as a damaged, relatable character. What’s more, the lack of quotation marks around notable dialogue gives us an illusion of reading Yunior’s mind—which is exactly why he is the narrator. He exists as an almost omniscient character despite his informalities, and his similar language to that of the others lets us make connections between Yunior, other characters, and ourselves.
These comments are very interesting about the writing style of the novel. I think it is also very important to comment on the use of footnotes here. When Diaz uses these, the reader is almost given a brief history lesson. We must ask ourselves: is this efficient? If so, what does this use of organization give to the reader?
ReplyDeleteI believe that the use of footnotes is vital to the telling of the story. Without the use of the footnotes, the reader may not understand the historical background that the story unfolds within. With looking up the translations of the Spanish words and understanding the "nerdish", the reader may not have the time or willpower to look up information about Trujillo's regime.
I also think that the footnotes could be their own single narrative. Even though the story is true, the footnotes tell a recount of the Trujillo's regime. This is told in the same tone as the novel, which provides for a separate plot with a similar organization. We learn about how the main characters interact and connect. We understand how the main characters are related, and the footnotes give us a separate plot that helps us understand how Trujillo's regime connects with the other characters.
I believe the footnotes are efficient and necessary. They help clear up the story by not putting the facts of Trujillo's regime into the actual fictional story. They help the reader distinguish between the real and the fictional part of the narrative. The footnotes also help the reader understand Trujillo's dictatorship in an easier light. These stylistic choices help define the novel into what it is.
I definitely agree with you that the lack of quotes helps us focus on the ideas of the novel and also reinforces this causal feeling. I want to respond specifically to your notion that this story is told primarily from the perspective of Yunior. The fact that Yunior’s writing is much less formal that Oscar provides yet another example of how different Oscar is.
ReplyDeleteIn class, we discussed how the “nerd references” put us readers in the place of the people surrounding Oscar; often times, we don’t understand what he is talking about. Similarly, we have been placed in Yunior’s casual point of view merely by writing style, and this perspective provides another case in which to observe Oscar. When Oscar speaks, he is very proper and somewhat strange: he says, “It is, lamentably, all I have” (174), which compared to Yunior saying, “I got dude to exercise with me” (176), really sticks out.
When reading this novel, I do not tend to notice the grammatical errors of Yunior’s writing; or, when I do notice, I don’t dwell on it. Oscar’s proper dialect, however, stands out more to me, especially when he says statements such as, “You who have experience in these matters” (174) I believe this feeling is intentional. Diaz may be using the general lax writing attitude throughout the novel in order to further emphasize Oscar’s “otherness” when it appears.
I agree with you that the lack of quotations are used to present a more "colloquial" feel to the novel. It really doesn't seem like a traditional novel, rather, it gave me a feeling of listening to a narrator as he is telling me a story. I thought page 102 showed a good example of Diaz's unique writing style in this novel when Beli is questioned by the teachers of El Redentor, and there is a part with multiple "No's" as she shakes her head.
ReplyDeleteI also think the use of parentheses serves a similar function as well. There are countless examples throughout the book. Similar to the footnotes, it felt like they were those afterthoughts we have when we are telling a story. One example would be from page 81. It says, "Beli was a girl, for fuck's sake; she had no power or beauty (yet) or talent or family that could..."
Lastly, as we talked about in class, the use of Spanish and profanities used throughout the novel solidifies that colloquial feel. It sounds like how someone like Yunior would talk. Also, as LeAnna mentioned, the sentence structural is definitely different when Oscar is speaking, highlighting the distinct style of language used by Yunior.