In the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, one of the recurring themes is the idea of fooku. Fooku is seen in the novel as a curse. This curse affects everyone in the story at one point or another. While reading the novel, though, it would appear to me that too much emphasis is placed on fooku. While the curse could serve as an explanation for a lot of what occurs in the story, it is not a valid reason for some of the behavior that the characters show. I think at many points in the story, the characters were quick to blame their actions and beliefs on fooku when really it was just a matter of poor decision making on their point. Leah mentioned in class earlier this morning that there is never an excuse for poor decision making. I think there are numerous examples of poor decision making by characters. While it could be easy to point the finger at fooku and say that they only acted that way because they were cursed. At some point, they will have to take responsibility for their actions.
It would be interesting to know what other opinions of fooku were or if anyone else felt it was used as a scapegoat in the story.
I think at the beginning of the text, Oscar definitely used fuku as a crutch, but at the end he stood up to the fuku. It was nice to see a bold and brave moment for his character! Lola doesn't use fuku as a crutch whatsoever and I think that is why she is my favorite character.
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