These two four-letter words relating to fate are placed in opposition with each other throughout the novel.
fukú and zafa
100
This character, Oscar's sister, narrates the second chapter of the book, which features an extended section in the second person (51-75).
Lola
100
This man, Belicia's father, is wrongfully imprisoned and dies after fourteen years in prison.
Abelard Luis Cabral
100
Oscar describes it as having "Gold-limned eyes" (190).
The Mongoose
100
Yunior's narration often compares the high-ranking leaders of Trujillo's organization as these characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of The Rings.
Nazgûl, ringwraiths, the Nine, Ulairi
200
Lola burns this item, an artificial symbol of femininity (59).
wig
200
This, not to be confused with his mother's, is Oscar's legal last name (77).
de Leon
200
Oscar falls in love with this "gordita" in an SAT prep class.
Ana Obregón
200
Yunior explicitly states their significance in the narrative (12).
cars
200
"Of what import are brief, nameless lives...to [this character from the Marvel Universe??"
Galactus (The Devourer)
300
Clives does many things for Oscar, but Oscar's family employs the man because of this, his occupation (288).
taxista, taxi driver
300
Oscar earns his nickname from a mispronunciation of this Irish author's name (180).
Oscar Wilde
300
This motorcycle-driving love interest of Lola's is one of many characters whose death involves an automobile.
Max Sánchez
300
Abelard's friend, Marcus Applegate Roman, becomes one of them after his inferred betrayal (220).
a faceless man
300
Yunior notes that he didn't mind watching this 1988 animated Japanese film about a character named Tetsuo, though he often fell asleep before the end (172).
Akira
400
Oscar pretends that it is his number-one hero, Shazam, who actually has these two girlfriends at the same time (13-14).
Maritza Chacon and Olga Polanco
400
Junot Diaz, Yunior, and Oscar all attend this college on the east coast, one of the oldest in the country.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
400
This woman, Abelard's wife, is named "the family's first catastrophist" (243).
Socorro
400
Oscar and Beli are both taken to this place, where they are subject to violence and alleged see an almost mystical creature (296, 147).
canefields
400
"Fear is the mind killer," is the litany repeated by the Bene Gesserit in this Frank Herbert novel (238).
Dune
500
This Latin phrase means, "To the latecomers are left the bones" (219).
Tarde venientibus ossa.
500
"The beauty! The beauty!" aside from referring to the end of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, are the last words of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao on this, the last page of the book.
335
500
Lola runs away to be with this man, who lives in Wildwood, New Jersey.
Aldo
500
This man leaves a blank page, a página en blanco, in his memoir "to be filled in with the truth upon his death" (90).
Joaquin Balaguer
500
This Khuzdul (Dwarvish) word is the name of the mine outside of which is written the Sindarin riddle: "pedo mellon a minno," or in English: "Speak friend and enter."