Professor Alexandria White
English 1A
1 November 2012
TH 6:00-8:45 P.M.
The Path to a New Life
America is a place where people believe is the direction to start a new leaf. Families from all around the world immigrate to America to start fresh and to find a job or to further their education. In the book Dreaming in Cuban, the author, Cristina Garcia illustrates the similarities and differences between the Cubans in the U.S and with the Cubans in Cuba. In my opinion, Cristina Garcia is trying to say that with the similarities and differences between the two groups, Cubans living in the U.S has much more of a freedom and a better way to live than in Cuba. Cristina Garcia was able to portray that in the story, Dreaming in Cuban, it is difficult to live a life in Cuba. Cubans living in Cuba are living in a communist country (Cuba Economy). Most of them are scared and would want to leave the country but under certain circumstances it may be difficult to do so (Freedom House). One of the characters, Lourdes had a traumatizing experience living in Cuba during the Cuban revolution. As Lourdes arrives to her house, she finds two soldiers holding Lourdes’s husband, Rufino at gunpoint. The soldiers claim that the Puentes’ estate is now property of the revolutionary government (Garcia 70). The soldiers took action on Lourdes. Lourdes tries to resist from being raped, but the soldiers rapes her at knifepoint. This to me shows the struggles Lourdes has been through while living in Cuba. The Puente family decides to move to New York City to start their new life. “Lourdes considers herself lucky. Immigration has redefined her, and she is grateful” (Garcia 73). After leaving Cuba and starting a bakery in New York City, Lourdes was able to start a new life and ignore the traumatizing experience that occurred when she lived in Cuba. Lourdes was able to live a better life in America than when she lived in Cuba. This connects to how the Cubans in Cuba live a much tougher life than the Cubans living in the U.S. This also shows that
Cristina Garcia is trying to show that with the similarities and differences between the Cubans in the U.S. and with the Cubans in Cuba is that Cubans in Cuba live a much tougher life than the Cubans living in the U.S. Some Cubans living in the U.S. may experience the same life style as they once did living in Cuba. In New York, Pilar, the daughter of Lourdes and Rufino discovers that her father is cheating on her mother. Lourdes becomes an auxiliary policewoman and her business becomes so successful that she buys a second bakery. In the book, Lourdes also mentions that on duty, she enjoys patrolling the streets in her “thick-soled black shoes”. The Cubans in Cuba live a tough life and once they immigrate to America, they are living a better life than they had once experienced in Cuba. Lourdes was able to start a new life immigrating to America and that this proves the differences between the life style of Cubans in Cuba and the Cubans in America. She also mentions how the shoes she wore gave her power. “If women wore shoes like these, she thinks, they wouldn’t worry so much about more abstract equalities” (Garcia 127). Cristina Garcia talked about how in Cuba; women are treated differently from men. While in America, everyone is equal with equal rights (Freedom Equally).
In this book, Dreaming in Cuban was able to illustrate how the Cubans in Cuba were able to benefit immigrating to America to start a new life. Lourdes was able to become successful and own two bakeries in New York City. Some Cubans may refuse to adapt to living in an environment of America. In Cuba, Rufino was a wealthy and humble rancher, but in America, he lost the ability to be successful in his inventions and projects. “It became clear to Lourdes shortly after she and Rufino moved to New York that he would never adapt. Something came unhinged in his