Genre references

3. “Could write in Elvish”
Elvish is one of the fictional languages used in the film and novel Lord of the Rings. Lord of the Rings is about a group of heroes who set forth to save their world from consummate evil.
By knowing about the Lord of the Rings saga we can understand to a deeper level to what extent Oscar was a nerd. The fact that he learned how to write in a fictional language portrays his devotion for the nerd culture.

4. “Star Trek” 
American science fiction saga → space exploration to seek new life and new civilizations, 13 total films, big part of the nerd community.   

This reference appears early in the book when Oscar was still a young kid. This shows that his strong nerdiness identity was present from an early age.

5. “¡Muchacho del diablo!”

By understanding what this phrase means, we can know that this is a phrase used against someone. The person delivering the message is most likeley mad and uses this phrase as a slur

Chaka is a character from the movie Land of the Lost, he is a small adolescent hominid resembling the extinct Paranthropus apes of Earth. He has a funny caveman look which helps us further understand Oscar’s description and why the reference is being made. If you didn’t know about it or dont research it you would probably just take it as something ugly.

This quote is almost immediately explained by the text itself in a footnote after it is used. A parigüayo is a term used in Dominican culture that is similar to the English term “party watcher”. It comes from occasions in which, during the First American Occupation in the DR (1916-1924), American forces attended Dominican parties and just watched. The term evolved into being used to describe someone who stands outside and watches or some kid who doesn’t dance, ain’t got game or lets people clown him. That was Oscar. This is something that most people who aren’t Dominican wouldn’t really understand, therefore reading the footnote is something that will most likely help deepen your understanding of Oscar being described.

In this quote he compares Oscar’s nerdiness with a Jedi’s lightsaber (Star Wars) using a simile. You would most likely have some sort of understanding of this if you’ve read/seen Star Wars because of how Jedis mostly fight with lightsabers or are identified by them. I’d say even if you haven’t you could probably deduce that what the narrator means is that Oscar basically had a nerdiness “bubble” around him at all times and it was something that he was identified with. Researching this quote (if you don’t know either of the references or only one) would make you understand that nerdiness was Oscar’s special thing and it was what identified him.

This is a quote that’s directed at people who speak spanish and might exclude most of the others. You most likely would only fully understand the term “gordo asqueroso” if you have used or have seen it being used before. People who don’t speak spanish might still figure out that it is used as an insult based on the context.

“he was painting his D&D miniatures or reading the latest Stephen King”

This quote doesn’t really add much meaning to the text but it’s still fun to research. If you don’t really know much about D&D or Stephen King then you’ll probably take it off as something geeky to add to what Oscar did. However if you do know about them then you would probably feel a bit empathetic about Oscar’s situation.

6. Elysium (Greek Mythology) —> It is, in Greek mythology, originally the paradise to which heroes on whom the gods conferred immortality were sent to.

Elysium --> paradise were heroes were sent

6. Elysium (Greek mythology - The concept of Heaven in greek mythology