The Curse of Fukú in "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"

In every culture superstitions lay, personally in my culture when returning home late at night one must walk in backwards avoiding any evil lurking in the night that may follow you in. “The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao” speaks of a superstition embedded in Dominican Culture, Fukú “generally a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically the Curse and the Doom of the New World” and Zafa “only one surefire counter spell that would keep you and your family safe.” The fukú curse follows the Cabral Line from Abelard Luis Cabral to Oscar De Leon attacking each of them in its own way.

Abelard Luis Cabral a well respected doctor who had two daughters; Jacqueline and Astrid often had dinners with Rafael Trujillo the main controller of Dominican Republic. Rafael Trujillo also known, as El Jefe was a man no one went against and never said no too. Began to look for Jacqueline as he found interest in her “She had caught a serious case of the hips-ass-chest, a condition which during the mid-forties spelled trouble with a capital T to the R to the U to the J to the illo.” Trujillo believed that every woman in DR was his, and that included Abelard’s daughter Jacqueline. Abelard’s greatest fear came alive for he knew the fate his daughter would face, “getting raped by her illustrious president was the furthest thing from her excellent mind.” Trujillo’s use of secret police meant that he got any women he wished, and no one could save you. After Abelard went against Trujillo by protecting his daughter he was arrested. “Slander and gross calumny against the Person of the President.”, while imprisoned Abelard wife Socorro dreamt of a no face man who she witnessed standing over her husband. A sign of the fukú waiting patiently for Abelard. The beginning of the Cabral curse. Socorro eventually killed herself from grief, Jackie and Astrid both perished too “In 1948, Jackie, the family’s golden child, was found drowned in her godparents’ pool”. In 1951, while praying in a church in San Juan, where she lived with her tios, a stay bullet flew down the aisle and struck her in the back of the head, killing her instantly.” The fuku that haunted Abelard had passed onto his wife and daughters and would continue to pass on.

Hypatía Belicia Cabral also known as Beli was the third and final daughter of Abelard Cabral and the mother of Lola and Oscar. The Fuku that took Abelard had pass to Beli. Who spend her childhood being a servant; La Inca gave her a new life, where she would fall in love three times, first with Jack Pujols, who “it seems, had promised Belicia that they would be married as soon as they’d both finished high school, and Beli had believed him, hook, line, and sinker. Belicia believed that Jack would marry her and take her away, but he never did. The second heartbreak of Belicia came from the Gangster, who Beli met at the club. “He, on the other hand, was the essence of relaxed cool.”

The Gangster and Beli began to “date” where she falls head over heels, after being abandoned by the gangster in the Samana, she noticed on her travel home a no face man, “but our girl could have sworn that a man sitting in a rocking chair in front of one of the hovels had no face and he waved at her as she passed but before she could confirm it the pueblito vanished into the dust.” The Fuku hasn’t gone anywhere, but is simply waiting and watching, the presence of the Fuku is still haunting Belicia, just as it haunted Abelard, her mother, and sisters. Beli realizes after a little time that she’s pregnant by The Gangster, while she was happy she learned that the Gangster was married to no other than Trujillo’s Sister. After being kidnapped and forced into a cane field Beli was beaten like a slave, she managed to escape beaten and bruised. “So as Beli was flitting in and out of life, there appeared at her side a creature that would have been an amiable mongoose if not for its golden lion eyes and the absolute black of its pelt.” Beli’s own Zafa, her counter spell, the mongoose giving Beli strength to live for her son and daughter that a future awaits her. The presence of Zafa also exists in La Inca, “…Praying in her room-the silence that lay between them now, stronger than love…”, her persistent prayers kept Beli alive. Her third and final heartbreak is no other than Oscar and Lola’s father who doesn’t speak about but it was clear she wouldn’t love again.

Lola, the daughter the mongoose promised Beli was no other than a rebel, a “punk chick” struggling to be the perfect Dominican daughter. After being raped Beli shuts Lola up by telling her it wasn’t important, and continuously abuses her. “When that thing happened to me when I was eight and finally told her what he had done, she told me to shut my mouth and stop crying, and I did exactly that….”. The strained relationship between Lola and Belicia led up too Lola running away with her boyfriend “It was like the stupidest thing I ever did. I was miserable. And so bored. But of course I wouldn’t admit it.” However, like Fuku waiting patiently, it turned out to be horrible after being caught by her mother, Lola ended up in Santo Domingo where she couldn’t run away. While in Santo Domingo, Lola eventually begins to date a man named Max; he ends up dying in a motorcycle accident. “The curse, some of you will say.” Fuku once again haunting the Cabral line, the ultimate doom.

The last and final child of Hypatía Belicia Cabral, Oscar de León, an awkward nerd who could never get a girl, unlike the typical Dominican man, he had no game whatsoever. “Oscar was a social introvert who trembled with fear during gym class…”. As Oscar became older, his weight went up quite a lot 245lbs. His mother explained that he should just worry about his grades and not women. “Just be glad you didn’t get my luck, hijo…. What luck? His tio snorted.” Everyone knew that Oscar had no luck, the Fuku lurking about, even his friends Al and Miggs were ashamed of him. The curse follows Oscar throughout his short wondrous life. After high school, Oscar attended Rutgers where he continued the cycle of being a loner. After drinking too much one night, Oscar planned to commit suicide, however it simply didn’t work and he ended up landing on a highway divider. “Later, when he would describe it, he would call it the Golden Mongoose, but even he knew that wasn’t what it was.”

The mongoose appears as Zafa saving Oscar’s life from death, instead of being splattered across the highway, he safety made it onto the divider. The curse hadn’t killed him yet, but Zafa was protecting him. As he floated throughout college it became clear nothing had changed in his life, after graduation he became a teacher for his old school. He knew he had done nothing but remained a nerd he also knew the reason for it all. Fuku. “He didn’t want this future but he couldn’t see how it could be avoided, couldn’t see how it could be avoided, couldn’t figure his way out of it. Fuku.” Oscar was completely aware of the curse on his family and how much it haunted him. During the family vacation to Dominican Republic, Oscar begins to explore, he eventually meets a women named Ybon who he falls for deeply and swears he loves her. A women who truly didn’t care for Oscar and who was known for dating a policeman known as the Capitan. Oscar being blind and way too obsessed with love eventually runs into trouble with the Capitan.

Where he’s beaten to a pulp, “it was the Gotterdammerung of beat downs, a beat-down so cruel and relentless…”. “Oscar was sure that he was being beaten by three men, not two, that the faceless man from in front of the colmado was joining them. The Fuku was waiting for Oscar, watching him almost die. Almost, is a key word, La Inca and Beli may have performed the counter spell Zafa. “Let us pray, La Inca said grimly. She grabbed Beli’s hands and lowered her head.” The prayers of La Inca and Beli may have been the push to keep Oscar alive for a little longer, even after being beaten to a pulp Oscar still loves Ybon. After being forced back to the States, it became clear Oscar didn’t care but simply wanted to go back to Dominican Republic for Ybon. After returning Ybon warns that the Capitan would kill them, but Oscar didn’t seem to care. Like clockwork, he was being beaten again, even as they drove to the cane field he didn’t budge. “They drove past a bus stop and for a second Oscar imagined he saw his whole family getting on a guagua, even his poor dead abuelo and his poor dead abuela, and who is driving the bus but the mongoose, and who is the cobrarador but the man without a face.” Oscar realizes the presence of Fuku and Zafa in the Cabral Family line, and in a sense accepts his death to fuku.

The Cabral line from Abelard to Oscar have all faced the curse of Fuku and the impact it has had on each of their lives, from Trujillo’s regime to Beli loosing the battle with cancer. Attacking each member in its own way, patiently waiting to attack.