In the novel The Brief Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, the main protagonist, Oscar de Leon, is presented to the reader as a despicable and rather unpleasant individual. He is characterized as an overweight nerd who is often shunned by the people, and especially the woman, around him. However, Oscar's tragic life provides evidence that he can be considered an Aristotelian tragic hero. Oscar de Leon, in Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, is a tragic hero because he is naturally virtuous, possesses tragic flaws, and faces undeserved misfortune. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayOscar considers himself a hero and, by nature, is a virtuous individual despite some of his callous behaviors. Throughout the novel, Oscar often visualizes himself through these fictional heroic characters, demonstrating that he desires to be a hero. For example, a moment before his death Oscar makes this speech: "He told them that it was only thanks to his love that he had been able to do what he had done, what they could no longer stop, he told them if they killed him they would probably feel nothing and their children probably wouldn't hear anything either, not until they were old and weak or about to get hit by a car and then they would feel him waiting for them on the other side and down there he wouldn't be a fat guy or a dork or a kid who no girl had ever loved; he would have been a hero, an avenger Because everything you can dream (he raised his hands) you can be” (Diaz 321). In addition to Oscar's heroic inner vision of himself, he also demonstrates the heroic traits described by Aristotle. A tragic hero must be in part a good moral character: “Consequently, Aristotle says that the tragic hero will evoke in the most effective way both our pity and our terror if it is neither wholly good nor wholly bad but a mixture of both…” (Abrams and Harpham 386). The first example of Oscar's kindness is observed when he meets Ana Obregon. Oscar listens to Ana talk about her life and even tries to protect her from Manny, Ana's abusive boyfriend. Another example of Oscar's thoughtfulness is seen when Lola runs away. Oscar was clearly worried about Lola because he asks about her on the phone and starts crying. Finally, while Oscar teaches at Don Bosco, he sympathizes with and tries to care for the bullied students. These examples show that Oscar possessed a good moral character and proves that his was naturally virtuous. Oscar's tragic flaw was his desperate search for love and his inability to accept responsibility. Aristotle's tragic hero must have some flaw or error of judgment which is unknowingly the reason for his death (386). Oscar not only attempted suicide because of his blind search for love, but it was this that killed him. However, Oscar was unaware that he was actually looking for the wrong thing all along. “But wasn't what really struck him the bam-bam-bam of sex? they were the little intimacies that he had never anticipated in his entire life…” (Diaz 334). Oscar was really looking for the compassion his mother never gave him as a child; Yunior realizes this lack of affection in his story: “A heart like mine, which never received any kind of affection growing up, is terrible more than anything else” (185). Furthermore, Oscar is disillusioned by the stigmatism of Dominican masculinity. Being born into a Dominican family, Oscar is burdened with the expectation of conquering all women. Maybe if Oscar had realized these things sooner, he would have avoided it 194)..