Sweat

by

Lynn Nottage

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Sweat makes teaching easy.

Oscar Character Analysis

Oscar is a young Colombian American man; he’s the busboy at the bar in Reading, Pennsylvania, where most of the play’s scenes takes place. In 2000, as the only Latinx character in the story, 22-year-old Oscar is viewed as an outsider and ignored by the white customers who frequent the bar. Though Oscar is a “quiet but alert presence” in the background of nearly all the play’s dialogue and action, he’s usually only acknowledged by Stan, the bartender. However, as economic downturn hits Reading and tensions rise, people become increasingly hostile toward Oscar: Tracey, a longtime employee at Olstead’s Steel Tubing, is adamant that Latinx people aren’t welcome at Olstead’s or in Reading. When Olstead’s institutes a lockout and Oscar becomes a temporary laborer at the plant, Tracey and her friend Jessie hurl racist slurs and comments about Mexican immigrants at Oscar, despite the fact that he’s Colombian and was born in Berks County just like they were. Oscar’s father was similarly disrespected when he was a janitor at another local mill, so Oscar feels no loyalty to the white working class of Reading who’ve always looked down on him and his family. The racism Oscar faces culminates in Tracey’s son Jason and his friend Chris (who’ve also been locked out of Olstead’s) assaulting Oscar—and, in the process, accidentally hitting Stan and leaving him permanently disabled with a traumatic brain injury. Eight years later, Oscar has become the manager of the bar and looks after Stan, who now works as a busboy. He seems open to forgiving Jason and Chris when they come to make amends after being released from prison. Oscar’s hard-won success conveys the hopeful message that minorities living in predominantly white, working-class communities can rise above discrimination and adversity to achieve upward mobility.

Oscar Quotes in Sweat

The Sweat quotes below are all either spoken by Oscar or refer to Oscar. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Working-Class Disillusionment Theme Icon
).
Act 1, Scene 5 Quotes

TRACEY: […] I know the floor as good as Cynthia. I do. […] I betcha they wanted a minority. I’m not prejudice, but that’s how things are going these days. I got eyes. They get tax breaks or something. […] I’m not prejudice, I say, you are who you are, you know? I’m cool with everyone. But I mean…c’mon…you guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than—

OSCAR: I was born here.

TRACEY: Still…you weren’t born here, Berks.

OSCAR: Yeah, I was.

TRACEY: Yeah? Well, my family’s been here a long time. Since the twenties, okay? They built the house that I live in. They built this town.

Related Characters: Tracey (speaker), Oscar (speaker), Cynthia
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 48-49
Explanation and Analysis:

TRACEY: […] It was back when if you worked with your hands people respected you for it. It was a gift. But now, there’s nothing on Penn. You go into buildings, the walls are covered over with sheetrock, the wood painted gray, or some ungodly color, and it just makes me sad. It makes me…whatever.

OSCAR: You okay?

TRACEY: Listen, that piece of paper you’re holding is an insult, it don’t mean anything, Olstead’s isn’t for you.

Related Characters: Tracey (speaker), Oscar (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 1 Quotes

CYNTHIA: […] You know after everything. I wanna say that…

(Cynthia fights back emotions.)

I’m sorry.

CHRIS: For what?

CYNTHIA: It’s just, I shoulda…

(Chris places his arms around Cynthia.)

CHRIS: C’mon. C’mon. I don't want this to be a big deal. Tell me about what’s been going on. You hear from the old gang? Tracey?

CYNTHIA: Fuck her. After what went down. We don’t really—

Related Characters: Chris (speaker), Cynthia (speaker), Jason, Tracey, Oscar
Page Number: 69
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 5 Quotes

OSCAR: […] I keep asking for some good fortune. That’s it. A little bit of money. That’s it. My father, he swept up the floor in a factory like Olstead’s—those fuckas wouldn’t even give him a union card. But he woke up every morning at four A.M. because he wanted a job in the steel factory, it was the American way, so he swept fucking floors thinking, “One day they’ll let me in.” I know how he feels, people come in here every day. They brush by me without seeing me. No: “Hello, Oscar.” If they don’t see me, I don’t need to see them.

Related Characters: Oscar (speaker), Stan
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 6 Quotes

JASON: […] Eleven dollars an hour? No thank you. They’ll work us down to nothing if we let ‘em. “Jacking ain’t for softies!” But they know they can always find somebody willing to get their hands sweaty. And they’re right. There will always be someone who’ll step in, unless we say NO!

STAN: Look. Olstead is a prick. If he was here I wouldn’t stop you. In fact I’d hold him down for you to give him a proper beating, but Oscar…he’s another story.

[…]

JASON: […] All I’m saying is that he needs to understand the price of that dinner he’s putting on his table.

STAN (Shouts): What the fuck do you want him to do? Huh? It ain’t his fault. Talk to Olstead, his cronies. Fucking Wall Street. Oscar ain’t getting rich off your misery.

Related Characters: Jason (speaker), Stan (speaker), Tracey, Oscar, Jessie
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 101-102
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 7 Quotes

EVAN: I’ve seen enough guys in your situation to know that over time it’s…it’s crippling. I’m not a therapist, I’m not the right dude to talk to about any of this. But what I do know, is that it’s not a productive emotion. Most folks think it’s the guilt or rage that destroys us in the end, but I know from experience that it’s shame that eats us away until we disappear. You put in your time. But look here, we been talking, and we can keep talking—but whatcha gonna do about where you’re at right now?

Related Characters: Evan (speaker), Chris, Jason, Oscar, Stan
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Sweat LitChart as a printable PDF.
Sweat PDF

Oscar Quotes in Sweat

The Sweat quotes below are all either spoken by Oscar or refer to Oscar. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Working-Class Disillusionment Theme Icon
).
Act 1, Scene 5 Quotes

TRACEY: […] I know the floor as good as Cynthia. I do. […] I betcha they wanted a minority. I’m not prejudice, but that’s how things are going these days. I got eyes. They get tax breaks or something. […] I’m not prejudice, I say, you are who you are, you know? I’m cool with everyone. But I mean…c’mon…you guys coming over here, you can get a job faster than—

OSCAR: I was born here.

TRACEY: Still…you weren’t born here, Berks.

OSCAR: Yeah, I was.

TRACEY: Yeah? Well, my family’s been here a long time. Since the twenties, okay? They built the house that I live in. They built this town.

Related Characters: Tracey (speaker), Oscar (speaker), Cynthia
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 48-49
Explanation and Analysis:

TRACEY: […] It was back when if you worked with your hands people respected you for it. It was a gift. But now, there’s nothing on Penn. You go into buildings, the walls are covered over with sheetrock, the wood painted gray, or some ungodly color, and it just makes me sad. It makes me…whatever.

OSCAR: You okay?

TRACEY: Listen, that piece of paper you’re holding is an insult, it don’t mean anything, Olstead’s isn’t for you.

Related Characters: Tracey (speaker), Oscar (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 49
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 1 Quotes

CYNTHIA: […] You know after everything. I wanna say that…

(Cynthia fights back emotions.)

I’m sorry.

CHRIS: For what?

CYNTHIA: It’s just, I shoulda…

(Chris places his arms around Cynthia.)

CHRIS: C’mon. C’mon. I don't want this to be a big deal. Tell me about what’s been going on. You hear from the old gang? Tracey?

CYNTHIA: Fuck her. After what went down. We don’t really—

Related Characters: Chris (speaker), Cynthia (speaker), Jason, Tracey, Oscar
Page Number: 69
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 5 Quotes

OSCAR: […] I keep asking for some good fortune. That’s it. A little bit of money. That’s it. My father, he swept up the floor in a factory like Olstead’s—those fuckas wouldn’t even give him a union card. But he woke up every morning at four A.M. because he wanted a job in the steel factory, it was the American way, so he swept fucking floors thinking, “One day they’ll let me in.” I know how he feels, people come in here every day. They brush by me without seeing me. No: “Hello, Oscar.” If they don’t see me, I don’t need to see them.

Related Characters: Oscar (speaker), Stan
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 92
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 6 Quotes

JASON: […] Eleven dollars an hour? No thank you. They’ll work us down to nothing if we let ‘em. “Jacking ain’t for softies!” But they know they can always find somebody willing to get their hands sweaty. And they’re right. There will always be someone who’ll step in, unless we say NO!

STAN: Look. Olstead is a prick. If he was here I wouldn’t stop you. In fact I’d hold him down for you to give him a proper beating, but Oscar…he’s another story.

[…]

JASON: […] All I’m saying is that he needs to understand the price of that dinner he’s putting on his table.

STAN (Shouts): What the fuck do you want him to do? Huh? It ain’t his fault. Talk to Olstead, his cronies. Fucking Wall Street. Oscar ain’t getting rich off your misery.

Related Characters: Jason (speaker), Stan (speaker), Tracey, Oscar, Jessie
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 101-102
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 2, Scene 7 Quotes

EVAN: I’ve seen enough guys in your situation to know that over time it’s…it’s crippling. I’m not a therapist, I’m not the right dude to talk to about any of this. But what I do know, is that it’s not a productive emotion. Most folks think it’s the guilt or rage that destroys us in the end, but I know from experience that it’s shame that eats us away until we disappear. You put in your time. But look here, we been talking, and we can keep talking—but whatcha gonna do about where you’re at right now?

Related Characters: Evan (speaker), Chris, Jason, Oscar, Stan
Related Symbols: The Bar
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis: