“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others
 at whatever cost, 
but the urge to serve others at whatever cost” 

(Arthur Ashe). In Junot Díaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Oscar de León, the novel’s tragic hero and helpless romantic, trudges through life as an atypical Dominican—“he wasn’t no home-run hitter or a fly bachatero, not a playboy with a million hots on his jock” (Díaz 11)—until he, contentiously, is the first to beat Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina’s fukú americanus. Two distinctly different caricatures of the true hero have been drawn by society, each sanctified by Hollywood films in its own right: the “superhero” who retains esoteric powers and uses these for the …show more content…
Fantasizing about a better life—one not cursed by the fukú—Oscar dreamt of his post-apocalyptic rescues of beautiful women, all of whom he would win over with his genius and combined world-class martial artistry and deadly firearms proficiency: “Dude wore his nerdiness like a Jedi wore his lightsaber or a Lensman her lens. Couldn’t have passed for Normal if he’d wanted to. Oscar was a social introvert who trembled with fear during gym class and watched nerd British shows…” (Díaz 21-22). While Oscar reveres those who have special physical traits—recherché qualities that allow them to be heroic and serve the greater good—he himself maintains none of these attributes. His only unique characteristic is his nerdiness, which he wears “like a Jedi wore his lightsaber”: with pride. However, though nerdiness is an unlikely heroic characteristic and is clearly not “super,” Oscar, an unlikely hero, and his tenaciousness in exploring his interests exhibits his heroic struggle against the fukú. Exploited by all, even his closest “friends”, Oscar stood up for himself and his beliefs, putting forth bravery and mental fortitude, his greatest heroic virtues: “In the old days when his so-called friends would hurt him or drag his trust through the mud he always crawled voluntarily back into the abuse, out of fear and loneliness, something he’d always hated himself for, but not this time...He’d finally showed some backbone, hence some pride, and although it hurt, it also felt motherfucking good” (Díaz 33). Oscar’s dedication to his passions proves he maintains an unmatched heroic quality of self-assurance and pride—attributes that allow Oscar to hurdle seemingly insuperable obstacles to his own survival through sheer