Diaz claims that the fuku enters a person's life at some point, and from that day, one's life changes. As Diaz illustrates it in the introduction, Columbus brought permanent a curse, or fuku upon the Dominicans when he landed in the Dominican Republic in his 1492 voyage: "Also called the fuku of the Admiral because the Admiral was both its midwife and one of its great European victims; despite 'discovering' the New World the Admiral died miserable..." (1), and it's not just "ancient history" (2). Diaz describes the fuku as something that enters once it happens, on one day just everything changes, and this case, the history of the colonialism in 'the Americas" marked the beginning of the fuku on the Dominican peoples. Diaz further emphasizes this when he notes the day Oscar is cursed: "It seemed to Oscar from the moment Maritza dumped him—Shazam! —his life started going down the tubes. Over the next couple of years he grew fatter and fatter" (16). When Maritza breaks up with him, Oscar loses his charm and becomes a hopeless romantic. This day is an example of the fuku entering his life and working in action. Further, it seems that the fuku enters Lola's life when she learns that her mother has breast cancer: "I feel it, you say, too loudly. Lo siento. And like that, everything changes" (53). Following this moment, Lola shares how she runs a way, and how the household environment worsens as she and her mother are never able to get along.
In my personal life, a "fuku" entered my life, slowly, but evidently, when I entered high school. I went from being in a class of 19 to a class of 100, from being to a school of 100 then to 500, and while it may seem like such a small change, I became shy. I'm not sure why, but I didn't share as much. I was so shy that I had to have my friends order my food at lunch. In middle school I had been very outspoken, and I loved speaking, but in high school it somehow changed. So in this way, from this moment, it is almost like the "fuku" entered my life as it did in Oscar and Lola's lives, and things spiraled down. Lola describes the feeling of Fuku when she feels her mother's breast: "And at that moment, for reasons you will never quite understand, you are overcome the feeling, the premonition, that something in your life is about to change" (53). The fuku was mainly that I used to share my ideas in class openly and confidently in middle school, but in high school I did not do so as much. I was probably not mature enough to realize it at the time, but now I look back it and I can reflect. However, the problem wasn't too major, it just affected some minor everyday instances and social situations. I still spoke at school assemblies, cheered at sports games, and passed my classes.
In my personal life, I try to stay positive. I don't think I could say a "fuku" has permanently cursed me, because it not necessarily a superstition I believe in. However, in some ways, I can relate to Lola and Oscar. For example, like the Oscar we know so far, I too consume a lot of food. We all have our bad days, and we all have our own personal flaws, and sometimes I question and blame the universe on days such as these, like mini-curses. We are not perfect, we are all human beings. At the end of the day we all have our different beliefs, but it is up to us to be responsible and make choices that will better ourselves.
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