After finishing the book, I found myself revisiting the idea of Yunior being a nerd like Oscar was. At first, I didn't really think he was that big of a nerd just because he fell asleep in front of Akira a few times. However, going back it seems like he just does a good job of hiding it from other people.
When he talks about him being roommates with Oscar he says, "Me, a guy who could bench 340 pounds, who used to call Demarest Homo Hall like it was nothing" (170). It seems in this quote that Yunior is stressing his masculinity too much, like he is trying to prove too hard that he is not like the other guys in that dorm. Therefore, it might imply that he is actually a nerd, since he actually does not just hate these guys.
Early on in the book Yunior also says, "Perhaps if like me he'd been able to hide his otakuness maybe shit would have been easier for him, but he couldn't" (21). He directly states that he had nerdiness to hide. Maybe he wasn't sleeping in front of Akira, he could just be an unreliable narrator.
Also, to top it off he knew A LOT of sci-fi references that could not solely be blamed on living with Oscar for a few years.
I think you are absolutely right. We had mentioned what made Yunior care about Oscar's well-being, other that Lola. Lola was the reason that Yunior moved in with Oscar, but he stayed close with Oscar even when his relationship with Lola seemed impossible. He was there for Oscar after the attempted suicide. I think that Yunior saw himself in Oscar, and in helping Oscar he felt that he was helping himself. In focusing on Oscar he did not have to worry about his own problems.
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