Yunior's beneficial impact on Oscar

Was Yunior a positive influence for Oscar?

In Junot Díaz’s novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Yunior’s decision to live with Oscar gives him a chance to impart his wisdom on him.  Yunior was able to mentor Oscar while they were roommates, although Oscar rarely listened to Yunior’s advice.  During this mentorship, Oscar still hated his life and even tried to kill himself.  Despite this, I believe that Yunior was a positive influence on Oscar.

Oscar was in need of real friends.  Yunior characterizes Oscar as “a social introvert” (22).  Oscar’s inability to make meaningful friendships made him an outcast, contributing to his negative self-image.  Yunior was the rare person to actually make an effort befriending Oscar.  He occasionally took Oscar out to dinner, read his writing, and even gave him girl advice (173).  These small gestures added up to form a real friendship with Oscar.

Yunior’s kindness towards Oscar eventually motivated Oscar to strive to better himself.  Previously, Oscar had never listened to anything Yunior had advised him to do.  For example, against Yuniors directives, Oscar continued “hollering at strange girls on the street” (174).  However, after several weeks Oscar decides to follow Yunior’s example.  When Yunior proposes to fix Oscar’s life for good, Oscar is uncharacteristically enthusiastic: “I swear an oath of obedience, my lord.  When do we start?” (176).  Although this fitness regime ends soon after it begins (178), it demonstrated that Yunior’s influence was able to push Oscar to change.  For a short time, Yunior was leading Oscar down a path to get him to where he wanted to be.

The positive impact that Yunior had on Oscar also manifested itself whenever Oscar confided in him.  Oscar does not share intimate details of his life with many people, yet he chose to have deep conversations with Yunior.  When Oscar attempts suicide, he is not shown to have explained his motives to his mother or sister.  However, when Yunior visits him, he tells him that he tried taking his own life because he “didn’t know what else to do” (193).  A similar conversation transpires after Oscar flies back from the Dominican Republic after being beat-up by his partner’s boyfriend (305).  Yunior attempts to reason with Oscar, trying to get him to see that girls are not everything in life.  His concern for Oscar’s future demonstrates his love for Oscar, a love that few other characters in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao have for him.  By being for the most part a good friend of Oscar, Yunior became a positive influence in Oscar’s life.