Anna in the Tropics
Carly Campbell
Towson Seminer
September 16, 2013
Anna In The Tropics
By Nilo Cruz
It has become common today for somebody to dismiss the dramatic world of
a play. In Elinor Fuch’s Essay ‘Visit To A Small Planet’ she explains how a play is
constructed and the different elements that are contributed to make up the dramatic
world. She tells the reader that nothing is an accident and everything has meaning.
While taking the knowledge taught by Fuch, I applied it to the reading of Anne In The
Tropics . Anna In The Tropics is a play set in Florida in a Cuban American cigar
factory, with the lower class making the cigars, it shows the social aspect of
relationships, and the tradition of a Lector reading to everybody while they work.
While the tradition and relationships get intertwined, nothing will break their
ongoing passion for cigar rolling. In Anna In The Tropics the element that I was
intrigued with the most was time.
The ongoing theme of time is shown through the time of year, as in winter or
summer. The book is set in the summer, which in Tampa is both hot and humid. The
climate during the summer represents the ongoing tension and stress in the book.
This is shown through the dialogue when Ofelia says, “ there is nothing like reading
a winter book in the middle of summer. It’s like having a fan or an icebox by your
side to relieve the heat and caloric nights.” (pg 28) The tension is presented to the
reader in the first scene of the play when Santiago has run out of money, and he
begins asking Cheche for it, persuading him to eventually hand it over by say that if
he doesn’t pay him back he can be a partial owner of the cigar factory. The tension
only grows as Cheche has encounters with the lecture that he automatically hates
due to the fact that his wife left him for the last lecture. The feeling of stress and
tension in the book is what drives the plot and eventually
Towson Seminer
September 16, 2013
Anna In The Tropics
By Nilo Cruz
It has become common today for somebody to dismiss the dramatic world of
a play. In Elinor Fuch’s Essay ‘Visit To A Small Planet’ she explains how a play is
constructed and the different elements that are contributed to make up the dramatic
world. She tells the reader that nothing is an accident and everything has meaning.
While taking the knowledge taught by Fuch, I applied it to the reading of Anne In The
Tropics . Anna In The Tropics is a play set in Florida in a Cuban American cigar
factory, with the lower class making the cigars, it shows the social aspect of
relationships, and the tradition of a Lector reading to everybody while they work.
While the tradition and relationships get intertwined, nothing will break their
ongoing passion for cigar rolling. In Anna In The Tropics the element that I was
intrigued with the most was time.
The ongoing theme of time is shown through the time of year, as in winter or
summer. The book is set in the summer, which in Tampa is both hot and humid. The
climate during the summer represents the ongoing tension and stress in the book.
This is shown through the dialogue when Ofelia says, “ there is nothing like reading
a winter book in the middle of summer. It’s like having a fan or an icebox by your
side to relieve the heat and caloric nights.” (pg 28) The tension is presented to the
reader in the first scene of the play when Santiago has run out of money, and he
begins asking Cheche for it, persuading him to eventually hand it over by say that if
he doesn’t pay him back he can be a partial owner of the cigar factory. The tension
only grows as Cheche has encounters with the lecture that he automatically hates
due to the fact that his wife left him for the last lecture. The feeling of stress and
tension in the book is what drives the plot and eventually