An Analysis Of Cristina Garcia's Dreaming In Cuban

Most people look at their past and don't regret anything because of where they are now. People also question their ancestral roots because they make most of our attributes. In, Dreaming in Cuban, by
Cristina Garcia characters are missing something to make them happy.
They don't know what makes them truly happy or what they can do to get there. They get lost when things get hard and can't really connect with others for some reason. They can't seem to relate to places or things. They also cant control somethings like dreams and spirits.
These women struggle to find their identity.
Pilar is one of the characters who struggles with finding her individuality. The book starts off as her running away from her home trying to get to Cuba but choosing Miami
for a moment. In Cuba, she has her grandmother Celia. She doesn't feel accepted by her mother,Lourdes, because of her punk-rock likings and because of their political differences. Ever since she was small she felt as if she didn't belong remembering the time a religious nanny
'smeared with chicken blood and covered with bay leaves' (Garcia,
24) . Her rebelliousness shows how she feels she can do what she decides to do with her life no matter what anyone thinks of her. Pilar also feels that Cuba has the missing pieces to her life and doesn't allow anyone to tell her story."I remember everything that's happened to me since I was a baby, word for word conversations"(Garcia, 26). When Pilar ends her relationship with her boyfriend she feels lost and goes to a botanica. After getting assaulted and molested Pilar decides to go to
Cuba and convinces her mother to go as well. Pilar thought that Cuba is what she needed to fill the space she had inside, instead she knows she can't stay there. Lourdes is another character that is confused with her identity.
Shes an immigrant from Cuba who has successfully adapted herself in a new country. Her relationship with her daughter Pilar is distant especially because she doesn't know how to be affectionate. Lourdes mother, Celia, was the same way with her. On the other hand, her father loved her and so did she. Forty days after his death, he comes back and talks to Lourdes. She accepts that he is with her and doesn't question why he hasn't crossed over. Going back to Cuba makes Lourdes relive old emotions and is sure it is not home. She finds out why her mother was the way she was with her and that her father wasn't perfect. Felicia also struggles with herself. The book describes her mental instability and her disconnect with people. Her children Luz and
Miagro are scared of her mother and don't have a loving relationship.
Her need for love is shown through the relationships she has with men.
She had an abusive relationship with a man named Hugo who gave her an STD and later bores a son,Ivanito. Ivanito loves his mother but she later tries to kill him and herself. She gets rid of Hugo by lighting him up on fire and he decides to stay distant. Ernesto later becomes her next husband. He later dies and her paranoia leads to burning
Graciela. She cant accept reality and acts without thinking. She then wakes up to find out she is married to a man named
Otto. Felicia kills him by pushing him while on a roller coaster ride.
Felicia's constant changes in her life make her want something she can depend on and turns to Santeria practices. SHe dies and never finds true happiness. Celia is another women who struggles with her identity. She marries her husband Jorge and suffers because of his family. Because of this mistreatment she tells herself she will go look for him if she bores a son. To her disappointment, Lourdes is born. But she truly happy because she writes letters to an ex named
Gustavo,although she doesn't send them. For many years she holds on to the letters she has written for him and the pearl earrings he bought for her. When Pilar and Lourdes arrive in Cuba, she has
Felicias..........
bathing suit on. Lourdes notices part of Celias breast is missing because she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Finally after talking to Pilar she can let go of the letters and her earrings. She was ready to let go and her last letter is of Pilar being born. "memory cannot be confined"(47). She wants someone to carry her story and can finally go on with her life knowingh she loved to love. The three generations show how similar the characters are even if they lived different lives. Their need for freedom to create an identity is what they all try to do. All four women can't control their strong emotions and don't realize that it pushes people away.
They all suffered traumatic events that degrade their sexuality as a women. They have men who aren't worth the fight. Celia accepts that
Gustavo leaves and wont come back. Felicia changes men quick to not feel the hurt. And Lourdes and Pilar men choose an American over them.
They think that their mothers don't understand when in reality they don't want to understand their mother. Lourdes accepts her mother the way she is and doesn't try to talk to her about the distance they have. Pilar doesn't want to hear about her mother opinions and
sticks to what she has to say. They also look for dependents to try to fill the space they feel missing. They turn to politics where communism is preside and criticized. They also turn to religion either catholism or santeria. Talking to each other helped them see what they really want and what they should do to be happy. Although it took years, they know that Cuba is the place they remember to forget.