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Abelard Cabral
A real historical figure, the dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until he was assassinated in 1961, Rafael Trujillo is also an important character in the novel. His actions cause much of the heartache throughout the book, either directly, as when his thugs beat Beli and Oscar, or indirectly, as his censorship prevents the other characters from being honest about their pasts or their heritage. Yunior, who calls him “The Failed Cattle Thief,” depicts Trujillo as the worst villain of every fantasy novel, complete with a narcissistic complex and a preoccupation with sexy women. The novel points out the many flaws in the Trujillo regime, and each character works in his or her own way to overcome the damages that his administration did to the Dominican people.
Trujillo Quotes in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao quotes below are all either spoken by Trujillo or refer to Trujillo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1, Preface
Quotes
For those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history: Trujillo, one of the twentieth century’s most infamous dictators, ruled the Dominican Republic between 1930 and 1961 with an implacable ruthless brutality… At first glance, he was just your prototypical Latin American caudillo, but his power was terminal in ways that few historians or writers have ever truly captured or, I would argue, imagined. He was our Sauron, our Arawn, our Darkseid, our Once and Future Dictator, a personaje so outlandish, so perverse, so dreadful that not even a sci-fi writer could have made his ass up.
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Book 3, Chapter 8
Quotes
On one of our last nights as novios (boyfriend and girlfriend) she said, Ten million Trujillos is all we are.
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Trujillo Quotes in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao quotes below are all either spoken by Trujillo or refer to Trujillo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 1, Preface
Quotes
For those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history: Trujillo, one of the twentieth century’s most infamous dictators, ruled the Dominican Republic between 1930 and 1961 with an implacable ruthless brutality… At first glance, he was just your prototypical Latin American caudillo, but his power was terminal in ways that few historians or writers have ever truly captured or, I would argue, imagined. He was our Sauron, our Arawn, our Darkseid, our Once and Future Dictator, a personaje so outlandish, so perverse, so dreadful that not even a sci-fi writer could have made his ass up.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 8
Quotes
On one of our last nights as novios (boyfriend and girlfriend) she said, Ten million Trujillos is all we are.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
