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Before Night Falls Essay

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Before Night Falls

In the novel, Before Night Falls by Reinaldo Arenas who lived from 1943 to 1990, the author conveys many subjects and captures the reader to the full extent. Reinaldo Arenas, the author and the person who lived the experience writes this book for us in hopes of capturing our feelings and sympathy of the Cuban Revolution. Arenas wrote over twenty books, including ten novels and numerous short stories and poems. Arenas was not the only writer affected though as he states that, “All the literature of this century is somewhat burdened by the theme of uprootedness,” (Arenas, 36) which means every piece of literature surrounded the system of being exiled or the fear of being caught or doing wrong and being thrown out to …show more content…

The book opens to the succulent, splendor forest, full of vivid emotion and color where Arenas started the beginning of his life in Oriente Province, Cuba. The setting is one of poverty, but the natural world around him seemed to be beautiful and dazzling. Arenas shows this by saying, “The splendor of my childhood was unique because of its absolute poverty and absolute freedom surrounded by trees, animals, and people who are indifferent towards me (Arenas 332).” This quote foreshadows the rest of the story in that Reinaldo soon faces indifference from other people because he is unique and is doing something a “different way”. Also, this quotation points out the wonderful time he had as a child where there seemed to be opportunity, before Fidel Castro came into power restricting most rights. Furthermore, Arenas was free as a child and was uplifted by the cognitive nature of opportunity, but as he got older the setting started to change and dreams were tarnished and opportunity was thrown away by political interference. Reinaldo Arenas’ childhood was the only time of happiness and immaculacy and throughout the rest of the story Arenas is on a desperate search for enchantment in his once short lived paradise. As Arenas states in the book, “These, to be sure, were farfetched hopes, hopes born of despair, but hope is, after all, mostly for the desperate (Arenas 260).” This quote purely gives an edge to Arenas’ personality, saying that he,

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