Who is Oscar Wao?

     As I read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao I found myself living within the story and watching Oscar find himself. I believe that the information Yunior gives about Oscar is very calculated, it is as if we are finding out who Oscar is while Oscar is finding out who he is. Oscar has lustful fantastical feelings towards just about every women he sees, he falls hard for them (but not in love with them). To me, Oscar finds out who he is through the experiences he has with women. Women are Oscar’s main interest, I find that women force Oscar to take chances. For instance, when Oscar realizes that Jenni is in a relationship, we see a part of Oscar that we haven’t seen before. Oscar goes crazy and rips posters off Jenni’s walls. We also see a different side of Oscar after he’s been with Ybón. After Oscar sleeps with Ybón, to me, he seems confident. Oscar’s confidence in his Dominican heritage shows when he is able speak perfect Spanish right before his death. Diaz writes, “The words coming out like they belonged to someone else, his Spanish good for once” (321). The confidence Oscar has after he sleeps with Ybón and speaks Spanish well, shows that Oscar now fits in with his Dominican ties. However, Oscar is murdered, I would argue, before we get to see who he truly is. What do you think? Do women contribute to Oscar’s search for “self”? Does Oscar find his self, or is he murdered before he can do so?