The Cuban revolution is a turning point in Dreaming in Cuban as well as in its author’s life; Cristina García had to go into exile as the main character of her novel, Pilar. Their families were torn because of politics and the situation implied many conflicts. In the passage of pages 25 and 26[1], the author reveals Pilar’s internal and external conflicts through contrasts created by the tense changes, a paradox, and an antithesis. It draws thus attention to one of the consequences of exile: hybridity. According to Joseph Raab hybridity is a word that has become a most useful metaphor for conceptualizing cultural contact (Raab 2008). Indeed, Pilar is influenced by both Cuba and the USA and the repercussion of this cultural contact is that she is searching for her identity. To find it, she wants to go back to Cuba.

Pilar expresses the certainty of her decision to leave by using assertions in the present. However, the reason of her decision contrasts with her certainty, which constructs a paradox. “That’s it. My mind’s made up. I’m going back to Cuba.” (García, 25) is a parataxis. García uses three short sentences getting more precise in each of them. In the last sentence, the reader finds out about Pilar’s decision. Through these assertions in the present, she demonstrates that she is sure about her decision. The present continuous of the last sentence even shows that this is a plan that will be realized in a close future. Then comes the explanation of why Pilar wants to leave: “I’m fed up with everything around here” (25). “[F]ed up” is an expression of informal and familiar register. “[E]verything” is a hyperbole. Pilar exaggerates the reason of her decision; she generalizes the situation (she has just seen her father with another woman). Thus, this sentence points out that this is a teenager’s spontaneous decision, who wants to run away from a situation that she generalizes. Consequently, this is a spontaneous but a radical decision, which constructs a paradox. “I take all my money out of the bank, $120” (25) is a part of the paradox because the small amount of money that the girl possesses contrasts with the greatness of her project. Therefore, Pilar’s certainty about her decision is contradicted by the paradox that it involves.

Indeed, as it is a spontaneous decision, uncertainty is raised when Pilar talks of the future. It creates thus a contrast with her initial certainty. “I figure if I can just get there” (25) is an assumption followed by the future: “I’ll be able to make my way to Cuba, maybe rent a boat or get a fisherman” (26). In the first quote, the verb “figure” shows that she supposes what will happen in the future, she is not sure anymore. “[I]f” is a subordinate conjunction which signals hypothesis, thus raising doubt. Then the modal verb “can” involves the idea that it is possible that she fails. Furthermore, the doubt is strengthened by the adverb “maybe”. This uncertainty challenges all the assertions that Pilar made before, thus revealing an antithesis between assertions and assumptions. She continues assuming when she “imagine[s]” (26) her reunion with her grandmother. This verb is also followed by the future: “[s]he’ll be sitting”, “she’ll smell”, “[t]here’ll be gulls”, “[s]he’ll stroke” (26). It depicts the scene that Pilar visualizes precisely but these are only expectations. The girl knows that she wants to leave, but she did not think of how to get to Cuba. This brings uncertainty in her decision that is too spontaneous and not elaborated enough. As a result, she can only imagine the future. The consequence of the antithesis between assertions and assumptions is that a contrast between certainty and uncertainty is raised. This contrast shows Pilar’s instability due to an inner conflict.

Pilar does not only live an internal conflict; she also has a flashback evoking her family’s external conflict in which she feels powerless. Indeed, she evokes the breaking of the family that happened because of Lourdes’ decision to leave Cuba when Pilar “was only two years old” (26). The girl talks in the past, which is the tense of finished actions. These actions are trapped in the past forever like Pilar was jammed in her very young age at this time. Consequently, she could manifest her refusal only by “scream[ing] at the top of [her] lungs” (26). This is a metaphor evoking that her scream came not from her throat, but from even deeper. Thus, she strongly manifested her disagreement to be separated from her grandmother. As Lourdes’s decision of leaving Cuba is rejected by Pilar, the consequence is that young girl is torn between the USA and Cuba. This tearing appears in the text through the antithesis between “here” (25) and there, which represents “Cuba” (25,26). Pilar lives in the USA against her will, and here she has to “slav[e] away at [her] mother’s bakery” (25). This powerful expression denotes Pilar’s opinion on her relationship with Lourdes and indicates that she considers herself as her mother’s slave. The consequence is that Pilar is not free and she had to follow her mother “here” (25), where she is “fed up with everything” (25). During the argument that happened years ago, Jorge exposed his point of view on their relationship by claiming: “[Pilar] belongs with Lourdes” (26). This implies that Pilar’s home is where Lourdes is thus demonstrating why the girl had to follow her mother in the USA. Nevertheless, Pilar challenges her belonging by her will to go back to Cuba without her mother. This questioning of belonging is the result of the external conflict that she lived years ago and has provoked her actual inner conflict.

Therefore, Pilar’s unsolved external conflict of the past brings her into an inner conflict years later. Indeed, paradoxical certainty which contrasts with her uncertainty about the future demonstrates that she is not constant and stable in her mind. Pilar is torn between two places: she was born in Cuba but has lived nearly her whole life in the USA. She lives thus with the culture of America but with the nostalgia of Cuba. We understand later in the book why she wants to go back to Cuba: “If I could see Abuela Celia again, I’d know where I belonged” (58). This is thus the story of a lost teenager who is searching for her identity, and who lives in hybridity.

Works Cited Section:

García, Cristina. Dreaming in Cuban. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.

Raab, Joseph. “Introduction: Cultural Hybridity in the Americas” (with Martin Butler). Hybrid           Americas: Contacts, Contrasts, and Confluences in the New World Literatures and Culture,     2008.

[1] From “That’s it” to “last time I saw her”.