Jessica Wallace
CMLT 2500
Dials
October 29, 2009
The Meaning of Instability throughout Literature
Throughout Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Alice Walker’s “In Search of Out Mothers’ Gardens,” the instability is a prevalent aspect of the novel as a whole. By continuously changing the overall subject and narration, it gives us insight on each character’s journeys as well as further exemplifies the instability of the characters and their lives.
Throughout the stories, not only are the struggles of the pertinent characters examined, but also the struggles of the African American community as well as the Hispanic American community as a whole. During the stories, each prominent character goes through a phase in which they grow, and they search for themselves and who they want to be. The characters also struggle with fitting in within their culture and their community. Because of the constant shifts in narration, intertextuality, and continuous subject and setting changes, the readers are able to relate more to each individual character and empathize with how they are feeling and reacting while gaining a new knowledge of the stories being presented. The overall instability and changes that are being represented throughout both stories, mimic the instability and chaotic nature of the African American and Hispanic American groups and the hardships that they are facing.
Throughout The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the narration is constantly changing and at times is unknown taking a rather anonymous, neutral stance. By introducing the book in this manner, the audience is able to obtain a sense of who each character is and their individual trials and tribulations that they must face. Through the shift in narration to Lola, we are able to learn of her journey to find herself while living in the Dominican Republic with La Inca as well, and more specifically, learn of the feelings that she acquired while discovering her family...