A Political Division in a Family Pablo C. Avila

6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia2 Photograph by E. Wright Ledbetter 1999

6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia3

6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia4 Jorge del Pino (b. 1897) m. Celia (b. Almeida1909) Lourdes (b. 1936) Rufino Puente Felicia (b. 1938) Hugo Villaverde Javier (b. 1946) Irina Novotny Pilar (b. 1959) Luz and Milagro (b. 1962) Ivanito (b. 1967) Irinita (b. 1971) Ernesto Brito Otto Cruz Family Tree:

6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia5 Our journey begins in Cuba in Celia is a grandmother who supports the Cuban Revolution and sees her family division due to political and social issues Her husband travels to the United States selling electric brooms and portable fans. He later dies in Brooklyn. After his death, Celia involves in the cause for the revolution even more, dedicating most of her time. Celia’s daughter, Lourdes, moves to Brooklyn with her daughter Pilar. There she owns a bakery that will give the family a good support and a prosper life in the United States.

6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia6 The first conflict within the family: I was sitting in my grandmother’s lap... When my mother told her we were leaving the country. Abuela Celia called her a traitor to the revolution. Mom tried to pull me away but I clung to Abuela and screamed at the top of my legs. My grandfather came running and said, “Celia, let the girl go. She belongs with Lourdes.” That was the last time I saw her. (26)

Lourdes and Felicia Lourdes thinks Cuba is a prison. She is constantly asking her mother why she supports the revolution. Lourdes does not believe in the social change Castro promises since the beginning. Lourdes constantly shows her anger at the revolution. As Pilar says, “’Can you believe this mierda?’ My mother snatches the picture of El Lider off Abuela’s night table” (219). Felicia believes in Santeria, black magic, and finally dies in one of those sessions. This fact is something Celia never liked. “For her, [the sessions] were a kind of poetry that connected her to larger worlds, worlds alive and infinite. Our rituals healed her, made her believe again” (186). Felicia ends up being possessed by a spirit and dies. 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia7

Celia and Pilar: A Constant Connection Throughout the story, Celia shows a deep feeling for the Cuban Revolution. Pilar shows a strong connection between herself and her Cuban roots when she says, “Even thought I’ve been living in Brooklyn all my life, it doesn’t feel like home to me. I’m not sure Cuba is, but I want to find out. If I could only see Abuela Celia again, I’d know where I belonged” (58). Celia and Pilar are very connected. “My grandmother is the one who encouraged me to go to painting classes” (29). Celia starts to have a change after her husband dies. She starts to involve herself even more in the revolution. In 1972, she becomes a civilian judge. She is pleased because what she decides makes a difference. (111) 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia8

Pilar’s Grandpa After he died, Lourdes’s father continues to talk to her in a different dimension. His spirit is coming back and talks to her about different things she doesn’t know and some others she doesn’t understand. “After we married, I left her with my mother and my sister. I knew what it would do to her. A part of me wanted to punish her. For the Spaniard. I tried to kill her, Lourdes... I left on a long trip after you were born... ” (195). 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia9

Pilar: The link between generations Pilar finds many ways to make her way to Miami and escape to Cuba. She misses her grandmother and her Cuban roots as well. Pilar is the clear connection with her grandmother, not because she believes in the revolution as her grandmother, but because she loved her Cuban roots. This connection is showed throughout the book. “I feel much more connected to Abuela Celia than to Mom, even though I haven’t seen my grandmother in seventeen years. We don’t speak at night anymore, but she’s left me her legacy nonetheless—a love for the sea... ” (176). 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia10

Final Letter The book begins around the 1960’s with a description of Celia’s life and her love for the sea along the Cuban coast. By the end of the book, we still see Celia in one of her letters in January 11, 1959 My dearest Gustavo, The revolution is eleven days old. My granddaughter, Pilar Puente del Pino, was born today. It is also my birthday. I am fifty years old. I will no longer write to you, mi amor. She will remember everything. My love always, Celia (245) 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia11

Pilar Pilar seems to represent the center of the story because on her, we can see the source of the Cuban roots that are finally the main reason to reunite the family despite their differences in terms of politics. “I’m glad you remember, Pilar. I always knew you would” (218). 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia12

Important events in Del Pino’s family Celia’s Spanish lover. P.36 Celia’s letters to Gustavo. P.49 Lourdes against Fidel Castro. P.177 Pilar’s boyfriend. P.179 Felicia is back to the religion—Santeria—black magic. P.185 Last revelations of Lourdes’s father. P.195 Pilar as a musician. P.198 Pilar and her mother is back to Cuba. P.215 Celia’s condition decays. P.218 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia13

Why should we read this book? Because it demonstrates the difficulties many families go through when looking for better opportunities. It also shows how a girl—Pilar—discovers her Cuban roots and overcomes her difficulties with her mother reunifying the family despite their political differences. Because it not only represents the struggle of many Cuban families, but also the struggle many families from different countries have when looking for better options. Finally, it shows how we struggle to find our identity. Who we really are and where we come from. 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia14

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia 6/15/2015Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia15 Publisher: Ballantine Books New York, “Impressive…Her story is about three generations of Cuban women and their separate responses to the revolution. Her special feat is to tell it in a style as warm and gentle as the ‘sustaining aromas of vanilla and almond,’ as rhythmic as the music of Beny Moré.” Amelia Weiss Time

Cristina Garcia Cristina Garcia was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1958, and grew up in New York City. She attended Barnard College and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Ms. Garcia has worked as a correspondent for Time magazine in San Francisco, Miami, and Los Angeles, where she currently lives with her husband, Scott Brown, and their English bulldog. Dreaming in Cuban is her first novel.

Works Cited Dreaming in Cuban Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia. Ballantine Books – New York, Cuba Picturing Change Cuba Picturing Change by E. Wright Ledbetter Photographs by E. Wright Ledbetter Pablo C. Avila CEP May 2008