Oscar, the novel’s main protagonist, was a Dominican boy who grew up in New Jersey with an overbearing mother and a protective sister. Despite his boyhood charisma, Oscar’s self-confidence diminished around age seven when he started gaining weight and developed an introverted personality. As an adolescent, he had a hardcore enthusiasm for science fiction and fantasy, which isolated him further from his peers. Oscar also felt increasingly alienated from his cultural heritage since he lacked the swagger of a stereotypical Dominican male. In the midst of his worsening loneliness and depression, Oscar desired renewed self-confidence and a sense of belonging more than anything else. He sought to achieve these feelings through meaningful relationships with women. But every woman he fell in love with rejected him, sending him into spirals of sadness and suicidal thoughts. What he couldn’t get from women he found in storytelling. By writing his own science fiction and fantasy epics, Oscar found an outlet that enabled him to create alternate realities for himself. He eventually discovered a profound sense of self-confidence and acceptance in his relationship with Ybón, but he ultimately paid for this short-lived experience with his life.