Love and Selfishness in Love in L.A. by Dagoberto Gilb Essay

Whether you’re stuck on the 405 freeway during rush hour, on the 15 freeway heading back from a long-weekend vacation, or driving through the busy streets of Hollywood, traffic on the highways and streets of Los Angeles can often be a hassle. In Dagoberto Gilb’s short story Love in L.A., first published in 1986, the troubles of traffic are experienced first hand by our main character Jake. Jake is a common fellow with a steady occupation who is merely trying to make his way to work through the busy streets of Hollywood. As he is working his way through the piled traffic, not paying complete attention to the road in front of him, Jake crashes into the back of a Toyota. In the midst of exchanging information with the driver of the Toyota,

Diaz conveys how love can be complicated by creating failed relationships for Oscar, Beli, and Lola. Love is a big topic in the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. All characters go through their own situations about love and failed love. Love can really change a person; positively or negatively. People may not know when they have someone who is really down for them but ends up destroying their relationship just like some characters in the story.

This quotation means that Jake got hurt in the war and the implication of this quote is that because of the injury that Jake suffered during the war, he is unable to have sexual relationships with females. This evokes my sympathy for Jake because he is such a nice and stand up guy, but he is unable to be

1862 England (Victorian Era) was somewhat of an uptight society, especially compared to today. The majority of people, especially those in the upper class, were expected to be utmostly prim and proper and follow societal norms at all times. This included love, or what love was defined as during the period. George Meredith, in his poem aptly titled “Modern Love”, sets a scene where a husband and wife are sleeping side by side, both reflecting sorrowfully on their melancholy marriage. Meredith argues in this poem that the institution of modern love is inherently flawed, by exposing to the reader that while the husband and wife still care for each other, they want to leave each other because they are both scared of “modern love”. By doing so, Meredith is able to justify his overarching message that applies to all: love is a feeling that cannot be artificially replicated, and attempting to do so is only a detriment.

Whether you're stuck on the 405 freeway during rush hour, on the 15 freeway heading back from a long-weekend vacation, or driving through the busy streets of Hollywood, traffic on the highways and streets of Los Angeles can often be a hassle. In Dagoberto Gilb's short story Love in L.A., first published in 1986, the troubles of traffic are experienced first hand by our main character Jake. Jake is a common fellow with a steady occupation who is merely trying to make his way to work through the busy streets of Hollywood. As he is working his way through the piled traffic, not paying complete attention to the road in front of him, Jake crashes into the back of a Toyota. In the midst of exchanging information with the driver of the Toyota,

Jake wants to improve his life, but chooses to con a woman out of paying for a car accident. I believe the story and it’s characters stem from the author’s own experiences living in LA. Jake is most likely the generalization the author is making on the people of LA .The author is portraying people in LA as liars and deceiving people who will not amount to anything if they continue this behavior, similar to Jake’s character. At the end of “Love in LA,” Jake realizes that what he did was meaningless and that his life will not improve if he continues with his current attitude. The title itself is satirical in nature. It is ironic that the story has no real love in it. Instead the plot is riddled with deceptions and lies all of which contrasts with the

Dagoberto Gilb was born in Los Angeles in 1950. A mix of gritty humor, mundane terror, and economic misfortune distinguishes his short stories. His life has been neither easy nor subdued, and these influences are reflected in his writing style and choice of subject matter. The short story entitled “Love in L.A.,” by Dagoberto Gilb, shows how one can see many reasons in seeing irony and even satire by the story’s title and how all is stories combine in someway.

When Oscar was younger, he was popular with all the girls his age. As he grew older however, he became labeled as a “nerd” and he was no longer having luck with relationships. Oscar want’s to fall in love and have that person actually love him back. Oscar’s first big heartbreak however, is Ana Obregon. Oscar thinks that Ana likes him but she ends up going back to her previous boyfriend even though he was abusive towards her. In college Oscar falls deeply in love for another girl who also rejects him. He was so devastated by the rejection that he jumps off the New Brunswick train bridge, but doesn’t succeed in killing himself. After graduating from college, Oscar teaches for a while, but is unhappy so he goes with his mother and sister to the Dominican Republic, where the rest of his family lives, for the summer. While in the Dominican Republic, Oscar falls in love with a prostitute named Ybon. He doesn’t care that she’s a prostitute because he is convinced that she is his first true love. Ybon, however, has a boyfriend and he is the captain of the police force. Eventually Ybon’s boyfriend and his friends catch Oscar and beat him up. After recovering in the Dominican Republic, Oscar’s mother sends him back to New Jersey. Oscar flies back to the DR, against his mother’s wishes, and tries to find Ybon again despite the fact that her boyfriend is looking for him. The captain eventually finds him and shoots him and Oscar dies. However, at the end of the novel, we find out that Oscar sent a letter to his sister talking about his brief days he had with Ybon before he was killed. He talks about how he finally found someone who loved him back and how about how everything he went through to get there was worth it. The novel discuses different types of sexuality. When Oscar thinks of sex, he thinks of having someone to love and love him back while doing it. Oscar’s friend Yunior however, just thinks

Love is a battlefield, for the cabral family this is true. Whether it’s Beli, Lola, or Oscar we see their constant struggle to find true love and how it shapes them. While reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz the reader sees how the Cabral’s struggle in relationships that are abusive, fatal, and fake. Most of these end with the characters more broken than before. Diaz argues through his main characters failed attempts at relationships that love is impossible to obtain who are oscar, beli, lola.

In the short story, "Love in L.A" by Dagoberto Gilb, Mariana; one of the main characters

Group one, I really enjoyed listening to your discussion on the short story, “Love in L.A,” by Dagoberto Gilb. Your tone of voice kept me intrigued throughout the entire presentation. It is well put together and you also make it easy to follow along with even if you have not read the story. It is helpful that you started it with a summary of the story and then with an explanation of a biological strategy. It provided a better understanding about what is about to be thoroughly discussed in your presentation. It also makes it clear as to why it is helpful in literature. “It gives you, the reader, more insight into the characters and events that happen so that you can better understand everything. In knowing the author’s intentions behind the

Dagoberto Gilb’s short story “Love in L.A.” presents the idea of freedom and the challenges Jake overcomes to keep his freedom. At the beginning, Jake encounters traffic while daydreaming which leads to an accident with an attractive woman. Jake’s encounter with Mariana forces him to choose his freedom over getting the girl, and Jake decided to lie about his job, insurance, and stay in contact with Mariana after the accident. Throughout this short story, Gilb emphasizes Jake’s desire to have a carefree life, without any restrictions, not even have a valid license plate. Gilb uses traffic to describe how everyone cannot freely travel on the road, no different from the restrictions of traveling in life with a steady job, girlfriend, and responsibilities.

He goes from thinking about Brett nearly all the time preceding the fiesta to only thinking about her when necessary. While swimming in San Sebastian, Jake observes a couple laughing in the water (239). Jake does not equate the couple’s relationship to his own, a giant leap from his compulsion we observed in previous chapters. When Brett experiences trouble and needs Jake’s assistance he responds. However, in the thoughts Jake expresses after responding to Brett’s letter, he finally understands Cohn’s reasoning for calling him a “damned pimp” (193). Jake realization that he fits the insult begins in the passage when he remarks, “Send a girl off with one man. Introduce her to another to go off with him. Now go and bring her back,” (243). This realization prompts Jake’s standoffishness in the car on the last page. When Brett tries to be idealistic he shrugs it off simply commenting, “Isn’t pretty to think so?” (250). The ruckus in Pamplona forces Jake to view Brett in the realm of realism and not in one of

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines egotism as "the feeling or belief that you are better, more important, more talented, etc., than other people". This narcissism can be seen most prominent in the bustling metropolis where self-love is proclaimed: Los Angeles. This story takes place in L.A. and the main character Jake is without a doubt, superficial, egotistic, and will do anything and everything he needs to do to get what he desires. While the stories of love everyone around the world is accustomed to are the ones in which the girl meets the guy and they both fall in love instantaneously and live happily ever after deeply in love; Love in L.A. by Dagoberto Gilbs puts a new twist on an age-old motif that still resonates with the world today.

After suffering a war injury that renders him impotent, Jake desperately tries to rekindle his romantic relationship with Brett to manage his trauma and avoid loneliness, but eventually realizes that he himself must deal with the lasting effect of the war. From the beginning, Jake shows his attraction to Brett when he sees her in a bar and notes that she “was damned good-looking” and “was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht” (30). Jake’s particular attention to Brett hints