Curse or No Curse?

In class, the main discussion seemed to be whether or not fuku was the cause of the families tragedies, or whether they placed it on themselves.  In America, fuku and zafa can easily be described as bad karma and good karma.  We tend to have similar beliefs to blame on our own behavior.  I believe this is another Hispanic stereotype that Diaz is referring to.  Hispanic culture is a very spiritual one, they do not only blame fuku for the bad, but they also thank zafa for their blessings.  So as many people in class came to the conclusion they blamed their bad behavior on fuku, they also blame their good behavior and blessings on zafa.  One of the main characters, Beli, that we would think experienced her fair share of fuku, was saved by zafa according to La Inca:  "To her dying day she believed that Beli had met not a curse but God out in that canefield" (152).   Another case of zafa was when Trujillo was shot, which I am certain the entire Dominican Republic thanked God.  Trujillo also experienced fuku for all of his terrible actions.  The whole fuku/zafa belief could also link to the ancient belief in the Wheel of  Fortune, every culture has had their superstitious beliefs on the positive and negative experiences in life.  As human beings we all need someone/something to thank or blame.  For Hispanic culture, this is a strong belief that still exists today, along with many other spiritual ones.