The Connection between the Past and the Present through Celia’s Letters and Memories in Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban

Memory is a recurrent theme in Cristina García’s novel Dreaming in Cuban. Being the oldest main character alive, Celia is the one that has the most stories to tell. She is the only character that writes letters and the reader knows their precise content. Celia writes down her memories because she is a passionate woman. With the letters she writes to Gustavo and then by sharing a peculiar connection with her granddaughter, Celia attempts to forget the loneliness of her past showing therefore how past and present are entangled in the novel.

Celia is described as a lonely and dreamy character. “She [lives] in her memories” (92) and she fears that her past “is eclipsing the present” (92). Also, “despite all her activities, she sometimes feels lonely. Not the loneliness of previous years, of a reluctant life by the sea, but a loneliness borne of the inability to share her joy” (119). Celia is thus represented as a melancholic character unable to share her happiness. However, Celia has a peculiar connection which seems comforting with Pilar. She “remembers the afternoons on the porch when her infant granddaughter seemed to understand her very thoughts. For many years, Celia spoke to Pilar during the darkest part of the night, but then their connection suddenly died.”(119) Celia misses the connection they managed to have while they were apart respectively in Cuba and in the United States. “Pilar feels much more connected to Abuela Celia than to [her mom]” (176) This connection is surprising because the young girl barely spent time with her grandmother. Celia and Pilar share emotions and experiences. For example, Pilar hears her grandmother “speaking to [her] at night just before [she] fall[s] asleep. [Celia] tells [her] stories about her life […] She seems to know everything that’s happened to [Pilar]” (29). From her perspective, Pilar “know[s] what [her] grandmother dreams” (218). The supernatural experiences they share illustrate the bonds of the two characters. Celia has a caring attitude towards Pilar and she seems much attached to her granddaughter. She is relieved when she says that “everything will be better now that Pilar is here” (230). It is as though Pilar brings comfort to her.

In opposition with the previous reassurance, Celia experiences a strong feeling of loneliness when her husband Jorge is not there. The time seemed too long to her during her past, shortly after she married Jorge. It seemed that “Jorge’s business trips stretched unendurably” (40). What adds to her sadness is that she cannot get along with Jorge’s sister and their mother. What is more, she still has her ex-lover Gustavo on her mind because “for twenty-five years, Celia wrote her Spanish lover a letter […] each month” (38). But Celia never sent the letters. Her aim was to recollect the most important events such as when the Revolution in Cuba was happening: “The rebels attacked again, this time in Oriente” (208). Celia also wrote about her children’s births and how she was melancholic about the past, particularly in her letter from April 1945 in which she writes “I remember our spring walks through Havana” (98). It implies that Celia misses Gustavo. She demonstrates her caring attitude when she uses words such as “Querido Gustavo” (49) (“Dear Gustavo”) in her letters. In one of them, Celia writes “I still love you, Gustavo, but it’s a habitual love, a wound in the knee that predicts rain. Memory is a skilled seducer. I write to you because I must.” (97) The young Celia is in love but it hurts her. Writing letters has become a habit. By putting words down, these important moments are implemented in her memory.

As Justin D. Edwards mentions in his book Postcolonial Literature, “memory becomes an important way of uniting the past with the present” (130). Eventually, the novel ends with the reader understanding that Celia stops writing letters because Pilar is now born. The last letter of the novel hints that from then on, Pilar will be the recipient of the memories of her grandmother. The last letter says: “Pilar Puente del Pino […] was born today. It is also my birthday. I am fifty years old. […] [Pilar] will remember everything.” (245). The last sentence of the novel contrasts with Celia’s declaration after Lourdes’ birth: “I will not remember her name” (43). It is a striking comment coming from a mother. Celia could not have the same bound with her own daughter. Memory is a central theme in Celia’s discussions, firstly in its mention in the letters and secondly when she speaks of Pilar and Lourdes.

Another point expressed in Edwards’ book is the following: the “narration […] interweaves two stories, one of the past and another of the present, mixing experience and recollection, history and memory throughout.” (Edwards 134) In fact, past and present are mixed in Dreaming in Cuban too. This novel having a non-linear plot, Celia’s letters about past events are found in between other chapters, giving another meaning to the present. Even in the non-epistolary chapters, Celia’s character is linked to memories. When Celia is lost in her thoughts her “memories flood back to her, the past [being] revived and resuscitated” (Edwards 132). But one also observes another major effect of memory (that could have been troublesome for Celia): “in time every event becomes an exertion of memory and is subject to invention” (Edwards 132). It means that memory is not precise and therefore Celia cannot be perfectly sure about her memories. That is why writing letters is way for Celia to have a more realistic memory of the events (instead of trusting her thoughts only).

Celia’s desire to recollect memories is shown through the wide content of the letters she writes to Gustavo. It also serves the purpose of ordering her thoughts and recollecting the important facts of her life. By having a peculiar connection with Pilar, Celia has a way of sharing her memories with the young woman. The last letter Celia writes is a symbol of the connection between past and present.

How Pilar Puente Shows her Creativity with her Descriptions in Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban

Caught in a context of a shattered family, Pilar Puente appears as a creative teenager. When she stares at the sky, she discovers a new scenery at which she is not used to. Her description of it reveals her strong interest in painting. Pilar’s attention to details is shown through the use of specific vocabulary and the references to buildings’ characteristics. The extract used in this essay is from page 60 of Cristina García’s Dreaming in Cuban. It starts by “I still don’t know […] anything is possible”. The use of artistic metaphors, precise architecture vocabulary and interest in shapes in this extract of Dreaming in Cuban highlights Pilar Puente’s vision of a painter that sees every details.

Once she gets to Florida, Pilar discovers new buildings and a different architecture. By thinking “in New York, the sky gets too much competition” (60), Pilar is referring to the high buildings and skyscrapers in her city. The metaphor of height she uses accentuates that the buildings in New York are very high and that they almost fight together to be the highest. She notices that the buildings are different in Florida, where “the land is so flat” without all the very high buildings around. What is more, there are also “huge Spanish colonial houses and avenues” to which Pilar is not accustomed to at all. She notices that the architecture is different and her precise description highlights the fact that she sees everything, every detail. She knows the exact terms to describe the surroundings. She makes reference to the “colonial houses”. The fact that Pilar knows this precise term shows her knowledge in architecture. Also, she describes the place as a “one of the ritzy neighborhoods of Miami”. By looking at it, Pilar guesses that rich people must live there. She describes it using irony, but it also shows that she perceives elements in these buildings that lead her thinking it is a luxurious neighborhood. Later in the novel, on page 216, Pilar thinks “all Mom says is that the buildings in Havana are completely decayed […] What I notice most are the balconies.” Pilar is aware of the architecture and she is interested by it. Her mother only sees the drawbacks while Pilar views it more positively since she is more familiar with the subject.

Not only is Pilar accustomed to the architecture, but she is also used to landscapes. While Pilar is starring at the horizon, she thinks: “the sky seems to take over everything, announcing itself in a way you can’t ignore”. This statement of occupied space emphasizes the greatness of the sky. The latter is described as dangerous and threatening. With that statement and especially by using a formulation in the negative form, Pilar accentuates the fact that no one can miss such spectacle. Pilar is impressed by the sky and finds it wonderful. At this point, “the sky looks like a big bruise of purples and oranges”. This simile is a proof that Pilar’s thoughts are artistic too, while it makes it clear that Pilar has a sense for painting and colors. This artistic comparison with the colors highlights the fact that Pilar is very familiar with them and how they are arranged together. Considering Pilar’s thoughts earlier in the novel on page 59, it is understood that painting itself is metaphorical. “Painting is its own language”, Pilar’s statement means that painting itself is complicated. It is her way to express herself. What is more, it implies that painting might be hard to understand because it has a deeper meaning to her than simply a combination of colors. She also expresses her dream to “be a famous artist someday” which would fit her because she already has the sensitivity of a talented painter.

Pilar has skills in painting but she also pays attention to details, shapes and sizes. She looks at the shops and the mannequins inside. “The shops along the Miracle Mile look incredibly old-fashioned. It’s like all the mannequins have been modeled after astronauts’ wives.” Pilar uses irony in her statement and says that the shapes of the mannequins are all alike. While Pilar is observing them, she notices their figures and their shapes. Pilar pays attention to their features which are necessary aspects to bear in mind as a painter. Pilar is therefore a great observer. Another example that highlights her ability is that she notices that “all the streets in Coral Gables have Spanish names- Segovia, Ponce de Leon, Alhambra”. Pilar looks attentively at the street names written in Spanish. It implies that she pays attention to details, this is another great quality that a painter can have.

While Pilar notices details, she also uses some expressions that are typical for creative people. Firstly, she uses the words “I imagine”. It is important for a painter to imagine before doing. Pilar needs to picture something in her mind before actually being able to paint it. She needs to visualize what she intends to paint. Secondly, by thinking that “anything is possible”, Pilar demonstrates an interesting idea because it illustrates her determination as a teenager. Moreover, this dead metaphor itself states truly that “anything is possible” in painting. Pilar is free to paint whatever she chooses. Her imagination won’t be restrained. Thirdly, Pilar’s “mind whirs this way and that, weighing the alternatives”. The latter dead metaphor expressing doubt shows a feature that creative people might share: uncertainty.

To conclude, the precise vocabulary that Pilar uses shows her knowledge of the architecture of the buildings around her. Pilar notices colors, shapes and sizes. In this extract, the metaphors work in an artistic way reinforcing the painter’s eyes’ view of the character. The artistic metaphors highlight the fact that Pilar was creative from a young age (her adolescence) and that painting is necessary for her at this moment of her life. It is constantly on her mind. The following of the novel will prove that her interest does not decrease.