In García’s “Dreaming in Cuban”, we learn about the destructive union between Felicia, one of the main female protagonists, and Hugo Villaverde. The reader knows that the relationship is going to turn out badly, since the history of the couple is told as a flashback of Felicia, recalling her earlier life. However, in the extract recounting the lovers’ reunion after Hugo’s absence and their marriage shortly after, the text and stylistic devices give sufficient indication that this union is doomed to ruin.  Indeed, in the passage going from “When they met again late in hurricane season […]” (p. 80) to “His twin daughters were born without him on Christmas Eve” (p. 81), García’s use of tropes, figures of sound and a lexical field closely related to death creates a lugubrious atmosphere, which foreshadows the tragic outcome of both characters’ future.

Primarily, by examining the global structure of the extract beginning with the reunion of Hugo and Felicia “late in hurricane season” (p.80), and ending with the birth of Luz and Milagro “on Christmas Eve” (p.81), we notice that the text is made up essentially of brief sentences. The most striking example of this minimalist style is the description of the marriage ceremony, which is recapitulated in 3 short sentences: “Hugo married Felicia at city hall the week of the Cuban missile crisis. Herminia brought a bottle of champagne from Spain but no one remembered to open it. Jorge del Pino refused to attend” (p.81). These phrases share the most basic grammatical structure: the subject comes first (Hugo / Herminia / Jorge del Pino / no one), which is directly connected to an active verb (married / brought / remembered / refused) followed by a direct object (Felicia / a bottle of champagne from Spain / to open it / to attend [the ceremony]), with additional time and space indications in the first sentence exclusively (at city hall the week of the Cuban missile crisis). The use of short and nearly identically structured clauses creates a form of repetition and gives the passage a jolting rhythm. Additionally, by conveying no emotion and rendering only hard facts, the text creates a cold, somewhat austere atmosphere, which might be more fitting for a funeral description. We can thus affirm that the minimalist form of the extract and more specifically the very formal description of the wedding ceremony create a cold and negative atmosphere, which makes the reader anticipate the gloomy series of events.

Although the passage mostly contains brief sentences, García still provides a few descriptions. For instance, in the last paragraph of page 80, the butcher shop where Felicia works as a cashier is thoroughly described with the help of several metaphors and similes linked to the lexical field of butchery. First of all, the setting is full of animal flesh; there are “bleeding carcasses” (p. 80) hanging all over the butcher shop, and even a dead “hog’s head” (p. 80) sitting “like a trophy” (p. 80). The use of vocabulary related to butchery undoubtedly contributes to the glacial ambiance of the passage, as the presence of flesh and blood echoes death. Even humans are given features of animal meat: Felicia has difficulties distinguishing the butchers from the “marbled slabs of beef at their elbows” (p. 80), and also sees porcine traits in her customers, as Compañera Sordo’s “bristly jowls and upturned nose” (p. 80) and Compañero Llorente’s “pink eyes and jerking chin” (p. 80). Interestingly, Felicia herself is metaphorically depicted with those animal-like features, as “her cheeks are threaded with a web of fine veins” (p. 80), and she even ends up calling herself “red meat” (p.81). The fact that individuals are described with words normally associated to animals and meat dehumanizes them, thereby accentuating the cold, emotionless feel of the text. Therefore, we can argue that by using a butcherly lexical field to depict the shop, and metaphorically describing human characters with this same vocabulary, the author produces a dark ambiance, to some extent deprived of human warmth, auguring Felicia and Hugo’s future.

As we have observed the effects of structure and vocabulary on the atmosphere of the text, we may now focus on the characters’ speech. The only dialogue found in this passage is the very short exchange of Felicia and Hugo, immediately after their marriage on page 81. Felicia breaks the silence by telling her husband: “If you want, I can tie you up the way you like” (p. 81). In response, he answers: “If you come near me, I’ll kill you […]” (p. 81). In this brief conversation, we can highlight the parallelism in the grammatical structure of both sentences. This figure of style emphasizes the contrast between each character’s saying, since the only thing both sentences have in common is structure. Effectively, Felicia offers to do what she knows will please her husband, whereas he responds in the complete opposite manner, threatening to kill her. This exchange illustrates the dysfunctionality in the couple’s relationship, and predicts the union’s tragic fate. Hence, the use of parallelism in the only dialogue of the text contrasts Felicia’s intentions with Hugo’s, making us understand that the marriage is destined to destruction.

Although figures of speech are of crucial importance to grasp the meaning of the passage, figures of sound are not to be neglected. The poetic dimension of “Dreaming in Cuban” relies partly on the sounds chosen by García to express emotions. Notably, there is an explicit use of alliteration when the text speaks about Hugo’s actions. For example, we read in the following sentences: “Hugo settled into the sofa and stared straight ahead, saying nothing […] Hugo slept on the sofa and left for sea the next day” (p.81). The sibilant alliteration in these two sentences is striking, and seems to be attached to Hugo’s character, as if it were an attribute. The effect of these /s/ sounds is, in this case, to create an atmosphere of sinister. Effectively, as we picture Hugo on the sofa, either staring into space and remaining silent, either sleeping on it alone, we definitely do not imagine a joyful scene, but a rather gloomy image. Consequently, we may affirm that the systematic use of sibilant alliteration when referring to Hugo’s actions has a sinister effect on the text’s mood, and prefigures the couple’s equally menacing future.

As a conclusion, we can therefore assert, based on textual evidence, that the reunion of Felicia and Hugo and their following marriage is only the beginning of their own destruction. As a matter of fact, Garcia skillfully uses repetition in grammatical structure, metaphorical language, selected vocabulary and alliteration to create a glacial, lugubrious atmosphere, thereby foretelling her characters’ dark prospect. Hence, these stylistic elements give us a basis to affirm that the couple is inevitably bound to a tragic ending.