Waiting for Snow in Havana

Quiz Waiting for Snow in Havana

Posted by: zbergs93 on: May 29, 2009

  1. List three conflicts:
    1. The conflict between Carlos’ parents over what to do with the kids to protect them. Carlos’ father wants them to remain in Cuba, and his mother wants to send them to America. Since Carlos’ mother prevails, his father plays no role in organizing their trip to America, which is something Carlos resents his father for to this day.
    2. Carlos dealing with life in America. In Cuba, Carlos is at the top of the racial hierarchy, wealth, and has his parents there to protect him. When he moves to America, he is at the bottom of the racial hierarchy and is very poor. He has to grow up and “become a man” quicker then he would have had to in Cuba because he has no parents with him in America. This is shown when Carlos is molested by a man in a bathroom shortly before he departs to America. This makes him realize that he will be on his own in America. When his mother finally arrives in America three years later, Carlos is only 14 years old, yet he is capable of living on his own and it is his brother and he who care for their mom.
    3. Carlos punching one of Batista’s chief henchman’s sons. Carlos gets in a fight with a bully at school who is the son of one of President Batista’s chief henchmen. Carlos punches him in the temple and the bully cries. Carlos apologizes and becomes worried that his family will be taken away because he has heard that President Batista makes people disappear. Fortunately, nothing ever happens to Carlos’ family and this bully does not bother him anymore.
  2. Three motifs:
    1. Cuba and America: Adjusting to life in America, particularly Chicago, is difficult for Carlos. He has to adapt to being the subject of racism and living in poor conditions. In Cuba, when things were going bad for Carlos, he always had the beauty and warmth of “paradise” to make him feel better. In Chicago, it is cold and windy so he is never able to get a relief from his problems.
    2. Physical things being taken away: During Batista’s regime, Carlos notes that he does not realize that the world is changing because men being shot against a wall and children being removed from class are not very influential to a child because nothing is physically being taken away from him. Carlos realizes that the world is changing when Castro gains power and Carlos cannot go to see movies and do many other leisure activities with his friends and family.
    3. Love and anger for his father: Carlos admires and loves his dad very much. He enjoys going to see his father in a courtroom and relishes when he takes him to buy cohetes (firecrackers) and car surfing. His true love for his father is displayed when he and his brother get in trouble for shooting a lady in the butt with a peashooter and his father scolds them, but Carlos notes that it was more sad than angry because he was aware that this would be one of the last times it happens. That being said, when he gets to America he feels much hatred towards his father because he feels his dad was not carrying out his duty to protect his children at all costs.
  3. One major and one minor theme:
    1. Freedom: Through the memoir, we see Carlos’ freedom in Cuba disintegrate. After Castro takes power, Carlos begins to see life change in contrast to when Batista was in power, he did not notice that the world was changing because everything remained the same. Also, unlike America, in Cuba there are fewer restrictions on life. In Cuba you can do things such as buy fireworks, shoot guns, etc. that would be illegal in America.
    2. Good and evil: Carlos contrasts things that he finds evil and things that he finds good in places that are often related. He says how happy and merry the world was when he was drunk at Chachi’s aunt’s wedding but that when he sits at the dinner table facing her house and when he dreams of Jesus, everything is scary and miserable. This also includes the contrast between his lives in America and Cuba, which are separate just because of a new regime in Cuba. Another example is his fear of sharks in a swimming pool, which makes him embarrassed but also leads him to his wife, who shares the same fear.
  4. Choose two moments that are surprising how he is describing that particular memory:
    1. Carlos’ memories with his “gang:” Carlos enjoys recalling times he had with his gang shooting guns, throwing breadfruit, taunting Blackie, blowing up lizards, and shooting fireworks. As a child he was unaware of the danger he put himself in and as an adult, his memories of the exploding tin can is one memory that helps him realize how lucky he was to avoid harm many times. This relates to the theme of freedom in Cuba because these would be completely restricted in America. When he is in America, he hates Castro for taking these times away and wishes he could return to his Cuban paradise where he is free of worry and able to do as he pleases.
    2. Carlos’ memory with his grandfather when he goes to see Castro: When Carlos and his grandfather go to see Castro at a communist rally, Carlos notes that Castro is just a little spec and he cannot comprehend how such a little spec will change his world completely. The men that he is killing against the wall still make no difference for him because he does not actually see it. When Carlos notes that his cousin was imprisoned by Castro and how things such as movies were taken away from him because of Castro, he relates this to how this is the last time he was able to hold his grandfather’s hand because of just that tiny spec.
  5. Forgiveness:
    1. The theme of Carlos’ lack of forgiveness appears when Carlos is recalling memories of his parents arguing over what to do with the kids. Carlos is forever grateful towards his mother for organizing his journey to America, but he does not and never will understand why his father did not help at all. He believes that parents should do whatever they can to protect their children and that is why he will never comprehend why his father did not help more. He resents his father for this and shows this by changing his last name to his mother’s maiden name. Another time this happens is Carlos’ hatred of Fidel Castro. After Carlos comes to America, he wishes he could return to Cuba as it was before Castro, but because of Castro, he now suffers from poverty and loneliness in America. He says he will never forgive Castro for this.

Finished Waiting for Snow in Havana

Posted by: zbergs93 on: May 29, 2009

Reading Waiting for Snow in Havana has given me much insight to my driving question, which is how did the average Cuban react to the struggles they were faced with, and I have especially focused on whether or not to send their kids to America. Reading the memoir helped me assess my original decision, which was to send my child away to do whats best for him, because it provided me with an average child’s reaction, which would also concern me very much, and Carlos’ parents have different opinions. As I was reading the book, I began to change my mind because of Carlos’ experiences as a young boy when he first came to America. The part that sticks out the most is when he was crying in the foster family’s home because he misses his old life and does not understand what happened. To force my child to go through that, especially with me not there, is very hard to do. But as I continued reading I reassured myself that my original decision would be the one I would make because Carlos eventually realizes that it was the right thing to do and he is grateful for everything his mother did, yet he resents his father for not doing anything more to protect Carlos and his brother. Carlos also realizes that the pain, loneliness, and detachment he had to go through in America were sacrifices he had to make for a better life. He mentions that good things also come with these horrible things. It is obvious that these sacrifices paid off because he lives a good life in America, especially compared to what it would be in Cuba.

The most lasting image I have from the book is when Carlos and Tony get in trouble for shooting the woman in the butt with a peashooter right before they leave to America. The woman runs to their father and complains. Antonio scolds his children, but Carlos recalls that his father did not sound angry, he sounded sad because he knew this was the last time he would be in such a situation with his children. This is the most prevalent image I have because it reminds me so much of experiences that my dad, my brother, and I have had. As kids, my brother and I were known for being wild, fearless, crazy, naughty, troublesome, and every other word you can think of that falls along those lines. At family gatherings, going to restaurants, etc. “The Berger Boys” would always be at the heart of all the trouble. My aunts, uncles, grandparents, mom, and everyone else would always complain to my dad, who was sometimes the mastermind behind my brother and I’s latest scheme. My dad would respond by making it seem to everyone that he was punishing us and was furious with us, but I know and I remember that he was always secretly beaming with pride that, as he likes to say, “his boys were tough.” Only when my brother and I did something serious was my dad really angry, and it was quite obvious to my brother and me when he was, the two of us petrified with fear. Reading the part about the peashooter instantly reminded me of my experiences with my dad and my brother. Although it seriously made me question whether I would send my child away, my decision remained the same as I explained above.

Email with Yoani Sanchez

Posted by: zbergs93 on: May 28, 2009

Here is what I asked Yoani: Since the government censors the media and other outlets of information and opinion, how would you describe the opinions and attitudes of most Cubans towards the United States?
I will update when she hopefully answers

Final Reaction to This is Cuba

Posted by: zbergs93 on: May 28, 2009

The conclusion of the movie has confirmed my answer to my driving question. If I were a parent in Cuba forced with the hard decision of either sending my child to America with the risk of never seeing him/her again, I would reluctantly go that path. As we discussed in class and as the movie mentioned, there is no future in Cuba. Keeping my child in America would not be doing whats best for him/her, and as a parent, you have to do what will benefit them the most. My biggest reason for choosing this is freedom. Everyone has almost certainly heard the saying, “Freedom isn’t free,” referring to war. Perhaps for Cuban parents, the price for the freedom of their children is sending them to America despite the possibility of never seeing them again. It is obviously a very hard decision that I wish nobody would ever be faced with, but in my opinion, creating a better life for my child would be the obvious answer. Seeing footage of Cubans who have had their joy sucked out of them because under this regime they cannot watch TV, listen to music, and many other things that are just simply fun is all I would need to make my decision. Castro has not only robbed his people of their rights, but of their dignity. The only people I noticed were happy in the video were those who were close to the government like the children at the communist school. It pains me to see such innocent people suffer because of the crimes committed by a terrible person. I realize that I do not know everything about every treaty that is in place, but we should very guilty that we let this go on so close to us, especially after we abandoned the Cubans who tried to liberate Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. We talked about in class how Cuba is just one of many countries considered enemies based upon their political systems. I think that America should have a very aggressive foreign policy. I know that it is simply too costly and improbable to get rid of every bad regime and unfortunately we cannot help everyone, but something should definitely be done about the worst ones, and Cuba is undoubtly one of them.

Initial Reaction to “This is Cuba”

Posted by: zbergs93 on: May 28, 2009

Watching this movie gave me an extremely different sense of what is actually going on in Cuba. Although I knew Cuba is a socialist country, I had no idea that any type of commerce is prohibited. The film angered me very deeply to see that this is going on in the world, especially a mere 90 miles from where I live. It makes me wonder how, quite frankly, stupid a leader has to be to actually view this form of government and society as right and successful or even having any chance of working from the beginning. I am very upset by the many violent, wrong acts that Fidel Castro has committed and with the Soviet Union gone, I wonder why the world does not do something to stop it. Although we are in a time where many people view foreign intervention as unnecessary and problematic, I do not understand how anyone could possibly allow this to persist simply because they do not want to get involved. I have much more sympathy for Cubans, especially after seeing the sun-burnt, new-born baby. One driving question I have about Cuba is, “If I were a Cuban faced with the decision of sending my child to America with the possibility of never seeing him/her, what would I do?” This movie has made me even more confident that my answer would be to send my child to America. As we talked about in class and as many Cubans in the film mentioned, there is no future there. If I were a parent, I would want the best thing for my children, even if that meant I would never be able to see them again. Giving my children and their children a better chance at having a good life is worth sending them to America.

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