The novel Dreaming Cuba by Cristina Garcia depicts the life of a Cuban family. Garcia described the del Pino family through the three generations between Celia, Lourdes, and Pilar which hold different perspectives and the formation of their identity. The role of memory and traumatic events is vital in forming someone’s identity and creating a sense of self through experiences they have experienced. Memory is part of how the person may identify culturally or the way of thinking based on their experience. The move from Cuba during the Cuban Revolution into the U.S resulted in changing identity, political aspects, or beliefs causing a conflict among generations through the family.
Celia at the beginning of the novel began with how she fell in love with a Spaniard named Gustavo which she wrote to him every 11th of the month. She was heartbroken to know soon after that he wasn’t going to return. A pair of pearl earrings is what Celia clung to for a while in her life. The earrings are a symbol of not only the love to Gustavo as her past but something Celia isn’t able to move on affecting her marriage with Jorge and later her relationship with her daughter. Celia’s parents divorced when she was a young child causing her to live with her aunt in Havana and not being able to have a motherly figure or nurture of one at a young age causing her traumatic and painful consequences with her daughters as a mother. To abandoning and being left alone with the illusion of forming a family created Celia to feel that abandonment and separation which she once felt when she was sent to her aunt Alicia. Celia soon after marries Jorge although still deeply in love with Gustavo. When Celia gets pregnant we see the distance between Celia and Jorge for the majority of her pregnancy. Living with her mother and sister-in-law drove Celia’s psychological being into a profound dark place causing her to end up in an asylum soon after horribly having. Celia throughout her pregnancy writes to Gustavo describing, “they poison my food and milk but still, I swell. The baby lives on venom.” Which depicts the feeling not only of abandonment but being mistreated and threatened by her husband’s family. Celia to an extent also described if she was to have a son she would leave to seek Gustavo but if she had a baby girl she would stay. This portrays the aspect of escaping patriarchal norms. Meaning Celia knew if she had a boy the child will have an easier path where he isn’t going struggle if she wasn’t there knowing the child can be successful while on the other had a girl since she faced various obstacles in her life she doesn’t want her child (female) to face those challenging moments. Although Lourdes is born Celia seems anxious, upset, causing a mental breakdown. Based on Celia’s actions and behavior I want to say she faces a stage of postpartum depression where we see her relationship with Lourdes from her being born Celia didn’t show any affection. This can be due to her being afraid of becoming attached and losing her in a blink of an eye. As Celia has experienced abandonment and separation first at a young age with her parents then abundant by Gustavo we can see Celia is afraid to become attached and even committing the same action of abandoning her child. Fast forward, since Celia was in an asylum she wasn’t able to watch her daughter grow and she knew very little about her. Her resentment towards Jorge for putting her into an asylum and then coming out to knowing and seeing she didn’t have any connection with Lourdes or with any of her children.
Celia’s return was seen as a stranger to her children and vice versa. As Lourdes, Felicia, and Javier got older and went on to live their lives Celia described the challenges she faced as a mother. Celia described, “That girl is a stranger to me. When I approach her, she turns numb, as if she wanted to be dead in my presence. I see how different Lourdes is with her father, so alive and gay, and it hurts me, but I don’t know what to do. She still punishes me for the early years (Garcia, 165)”. We can see the rejection and affection on both ends as the mother and daughter like Lourdes. How her mental illness affected the relationship and distance between her children. Seeing the bond between Lourdas and her father hurt Celia because Lourdas never showed such joy or affection leading Celia to feel guilty that she at first also didn’t show any affection.
Lourdes, at a young age, was also passed through a lack of a mother figure although Celia was present to some extent she didn’t show much affection towards Lourdes. Lourdes became attached more to her father. At the beginning of the chapter it described, “When Lourdes was a child in Cuba, she used to wait anxiously for her father to return from his trips selling small fans and electric brooms in distant provinces. He would call her every evening…and she would cry, ‘When are you coming home, Papi? When are you coming home?’ Lourdes would welcome her father in her party dress and search his suitcase for rag dolls and oranges (Garcia, 68).” We can say that it’s possible that Lourdes behaved in such a way to Celia due to the lack of affection. Lourdes every time she knew her father was coming home welcomed him warmly causing Celia to feel left out. Lourdes perhaps felt a sense of fear of losing her father’s love, attention, and affection knowing the difference among Celia’s indifferences and behavior. Lourdes, unfortunately, suffered a traumatic experience at a young age. Her political perspective and belief shift after a traumatic event causing her pain and rage. Lourdes’ willingness to stand up to the soldiers and not allow them to cross over her property was raped by a soldier during the Cuban Revolution. At the time where a plan was enacted by Fidel Castro el Lider to overthrow Batista, such a revolution caused a catastrophe and terror among the Cuban people. Making many flee to the U.S or somewhere safer like Lourdes did. Lourdes described Cuba as a prison of pigs who didn’t respect the people instead took advantage causing anarchy to the citizens. Lourdes moved to the U.S with her husband and Pilar their daughter she quickly adapted to the environment and considers herself fortunate of doing so. Lourdes described, “she considered herself lucky. Immigration has been redefined and she is grateful. Unlike her husband, she welcomes her adopted language, its possibilities for reinvention… She wants no part of Cuba, no part of a wretched carnival float creaking with lies, no part of Cuba at all (65)”. Although she feels and doesn’t identify as Cuban, leaving memories and horrifying experiences brings her relief and the opportunity to grow as a person. Lourdes began to embrace patriotism and seek the American Dream. We see how Lourdes voices her opinions among Cubans trying to tell Pilar who at the time began to question her cultural identity as a whole. Lourdes expresses the powerlessness and traumatic events she experienced living in Cuba and how the Cuban government was corrupt and violent to the whole country, not only to her.
Shortly Felicia was affected by also not having a connection with her parents or her siblings. It seemed as if she didn’t fit in or wasn’t able to connect. At a young age, we see Felicia demonstrate some odd behaviors. Even though we see to an extent Celia trying to construct a relationship with Felicia after seeing such rejection from Lourdes, in the end, Celia ends up immersed in the thought of only Gustavo pushing Felicia aside. At the same time, Jorge is devoted to Lourdes forgetting about Felicia being. As Felicia begins to grow up she finds herself stranded with no one to be loved or care for. She looked for work but nothing turned outright. Later, Felicia marries a man named Hugo. Which we see him reject and beat Felicia for becoming pregnant. Hugo sees Felicia as a sexual object where he can fulfill his urges but later his interest disappears. This causes a severe effect on the person first not being able to fit in the family nor loved and secondly thinking a relationship with Hugo will work out regardless of the abuse she received. We see her anger and madness drive her sanity everywhere. Felicia’s second pregnancy results in her being infected by syphilis by Hugo. The peak of the mountain herb raised her mental condition and her behavior worsened. Felicia begins to think of ways to kill Hugo. Felicia’s madness was driven causing her to pour the hot-fired oil over Hugo’s face. Garcia (1992) described, “standing over him like a goddess with a fiery ball in her hand. You will never return here,” Felicia said and released the flames onto his face (169).” Driven from the lack and attempt to being loved Felicia encounters denigration and violence causing her to also fall into the cycle of or more like the rejection she once received onto her twin daughter Luz and Milagro. Her suffering, being used, and becoming infected lead to Felicia’s madness and committing such acts.
On the contrary, Pilar Lourdes’ daughter begins to question her identity and wants to return to Cuba. Throughout the novel, Pilar’s connection within Cuba is through music and art. She depicts such a connection through her painting. Pilar described, “ Painting is its language, translations just confuse it … like words going from Spanish to English (Garcia, Chapter 5).” Pilar expresses the feelings she has for Cuba through the color and symbolism it represents. Although in search of her identity between Cuba and the U.S paralleling art not being said into English or Spanish but one language. Even though Pillar moved to the U.S at a young age the most memorable moments she had with her grandmother were unforgettable. Pilar described, “Most of what I’ve learned that’s important I’ve learned on my own, or from my grandmother.” This depicts how Pilar doesn’t have such a connection with her mother Lourdes. To an extent Pillar described how Lourdes was inside insight causing her to be angry and frustrated for stuff she wasn’t able to change like herself or Lourdes. Lourdes expresses such a comment as mentioned before Lourdes was proud to be in the U.S and embraced American patriotism which we see Pilar not agreeing instead questioning why such change. Pillar wanted to return to Cuba which she considers her homeland and finds a sense of belonging. She described, “Even though 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” (58), a journey of figuring out the self begins. There’s a nostalgia of weaning to go back also the feeling of not being from here or there. This is where people begin to question or doubt their identity. In the case of Pilar, we see her searching for an identity but before living in a new place as an immigrant and transforming it into her home, she must move forward with her old home and perhaps identity which is difficult to even think of or do. Instead, Pillar identifies and learns from experiences she had in both places accepting a dual identity. The lack of a prenatal bond or connection is seen throughout the novel among each generation in which each mother and daughter to an extent have different perspectives on life. Dr. Hull (2018) researched the importance of memory in creating identity and a positive sense of self. He described, “Spending quality time in play, connecting, and showing interest through relationship helps instill memories that are positive in nature” even though this was in a different time frame where perhaps parents raised their children as they were raised into this cultural aspect of the formation of roles. Children and families need to spend quality time to build that sense of self and connection with one another. In the novel it was the opposite among Celia, Lourdes, Felicia, and Pilar among mothers there was no affection or love other than rejection. Dr. Hull (2018) highlights, “Memory also helps people make better choices in the future by calling to mind mistakes previously made and correcting future behavior”. As mentioned again the relationship with each generation wasn’t stable nor bond to. I do believe there can be change but it takes time especially after a traumatic experience and parental experience they once experienced at a young age. I state this because even though Celia experienced abandonment from her parents and both Lourdes, Felicia by Cecilia they could look back and think the way they felt towards their mother they wouldn’t want for their children to experience such feeling either. We Felicia twin daughters who didn’t connect with mother as well as Pilar with Lourdes. I think through generations it can be fixed such as parenting, connection, and support to prevent such experiences.
Conclusively, the past can contemplate whether the person lives a fine or bad life in the future through memory and experience. Even though we see abandonment or the lack of connection or support among generations. It causes a child into adulthood the hidden danger of developing post-traumatic stress disorder such as a fear of abandonment, emotional abandonment leading to the lack of love, care, or support. The child feels neglect, rejection, and damage which I believe to an extent Celia, Lourdes, Felicia, and Pilar felt in their childhood and adulthood which creates a cycle of rejection of oneself and their children. Perhaps it wasn’t intentional in the context of being raised and not knowing what a mother nurtures at a young age or the support given. In another aspect we can say also that perhaps they also feared becoming attached, abandoned again by their children, not knowing how to care or love since they lacked it at a young age. Whether the del Pino and Puente family held different political aspirations they shaped each identity through experiences.
