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
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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,
During the story Antonio encounters a problem he questions after how they connect to him and what they will do to change his future. As the story progresses Antonio starts to understand how they are connected using his dream. Which then helps him get a better perspective on what is going on around / with him.
The movie Before Night Falls directed by Julian Schnabel offers viewers a glimpse of how the homosexual community in Cuba was being mistreated under Fidel Castro’s regime. The true story is told in the eyes of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. The film depicts Arenas life in Cuba and all of the awful experiences that he had to deal with as a homosexual. Eventually he was arrested for false accusations of being a molester, however, he was actually under arrest for being a homosexual. Between the 1930s and 1990s, the Communist Cuba was abusive to the LGBT community as shown in their actions of harassment towards homosexuals, imprisoning the homosexuals, or sending them to re-education camps.
One of the main themes throughout the book is the title of the book “Night”. There are references from Eliezer about night during the book, which are full of symbolism. The word “night” is used repeatedly, and Eliezer recounts every dusk, night and dawn through the entire book. For instance, Night could be a metaphor for the Holocaust—submerge the family and thousands of Jewish families in the darkness and misery of the concentration camps.
In “The Secret Lion,” Alberto Alvaro Rios establishes the theme as loss of innocence in a young boy. The narrator brings to life a boy who must leave behind his youthful perceptions about girls, the arroyo, and his green haven. All preconceptions are shattered, and each glimpse of bliss is taken away. Through this the boy gains perspective, and begins to see the world with a new awareness. Rios ingrains the loss of innocence theme through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy who exhibits maturity, autonomy, and disillusionment.
Alejandrez begins his essay with a story from his childhood. He sets up the story by giving it a time and place he is the son of a migrant worker born in a cotton field in Merigold, Mississippi. He then describes his difficult childhood using vivid language, as the son of a migrant worker he had to move many times a year and assimilate into many different schools. His family had to make ends meet with the little money they had so most of the time that meant having no shoes or one pair of pants. The social climate was also very tense, he describes it as “ I always remembered my experience in Texas, where
these people with their lives and the lives of their loved ones, the Jews were “persuaded”
It was at first a slow progression from limiting the rights of the Jewish people, to wearing the Star of David and then to the attempted extermination. The Germans then began a race to kill the Jews as quickly as they could (Wiesel, 2008).
This story revolves around an undocumented family with the hopes that they will be able to live the "American Dream." The second oldest child, Francisco, otherwise known as Panchito who is also our narrator, is the main character of the novel. Panchito exposes a flurry of emotions with his roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, expectations and disappointments. He and his family expressed hope from the start of the story, dreaming of how life would be considerably better once they reached California, somewhere they thought to be a place where they could escape impoverishment. Panchito is shown as a very hopeful character; in fact, there are many times where he hopes for something to the point where he convinces himself it will happen, resulting in the numerous occasions of disappointment and discouragement. Yet, even with the frequent occurrence of disheartenment, Francisco pulls himself back up and perseveres. The author depicts Panchito as a determined character who always manages to push through rough times despite the circumstances around him telling him that he can't.
Night is a memoir written by Elie Wiesel, a young Jewish boy, who tells of his experiences during the Holocaust. Elie is a deeply religious boy whose favorite activities are studying the Talmud and spending time at the Temple with his spiritual mentor, Moshe the Beadle. At an early age, Elie has a naive, yet strong faith in God. But this faith is tested when the Nazi's moves him from his small town.
One thing all human beings, have in common is the struggle for self identity. Children are raised by parents or guardians who have struggled and fought for their own identities. In many cases, parents are still trying to figure it out, while raising their own children. Such is the case with the characters in Junot Diaz’s, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The theme of identity is conveyed through the characters’ Dominican culture, social standing, and in finding love. Oscar, Lola, and Yunior are three central characters in Oscar Wao, who’s Dominican cultural and family expectations were major obstacles as they struggled to establish their identity.
The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela is arguably the most important novel of the Mexican Revolution because of how it profoundly captures the atmosphere and intricacies of the occasion. Although the immediate subject of the novel is Demetrio Macias - a peasant supporter of the Mexican Revolution -, one of its extensive themes is the ambivalence surrounding the revolution in reality as seen from a broader perspective. Although often poetically revered as a ‘beautiful’ revolution, scenes throughout the novel paint the lack of overall benevolence even among the protagonist revolutionaries during the tumultuous days of the revolution. This paper will analyze certain brash characteristics of the venerated revolution as represented by Azuela’s
One way the author reflects the hopes, fears and expectations of the culture in the book was through Antonio’s dreams. Antonio’s dream reflected several of his most difficult cultural challenges including his parents conflicting aspirations and the towns conflicting religious beliefs.
Before Night Falls tells the story of Reinaldo Arenas, a Cuban writer who suffered for many years and dealt with tragic circumstances all throughout his life. Living during Fidel Castro’s harsh regime as a homosexual male led to several years of torture, for he was imprisoned, but ultimately set free. Additionally, his writing was bold and went against everything that Castro represented, and he took extreme risks to get his work published in other countries. The world heard the prolific voice of Arenas, while the Cuban government, his fellow writers, and even his lovers tried to silence him. Arenas was an extremely important figure in Latin culture. This is not simply because his work was profound; his life gives us a deeper look at the difficulties of struggling with homosexuality, masculinity, and finding freedom. He embodies resilience, charisma, determination, and at the same time fragility, weakness and pain.
Collectively, these literary images go to describe a young ethnic man, probably of Latin descent, who lives with his mother in a poverty stricken area. The careful recitation of instruction given to the younger man seems to demonstrate an intricate knowledge the narrators has accrued from both predecessors and experience. Singularly, this part of the story is very powerful in that it shows a young man having to hide who he is and where he comes from in an effort to seem appealing to women, and speaks volumes about the deception that both genders go through all in name of the chase.
One thing all human beings have in common is the struggle for self identity. Children are raised by parents or guardians who have struggled and fought for their own identities. In many cases, parents are still trying to figure it out, while raising their own children. Such is the case with the characters in Junot Diaz’s, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The theme of identity is conveyed through the characters’ Dominican culture, social standing, and in finding love. Oscar, Lola, and Yunior are three central characters in Oscar Wao, who’s Dominican cultural and familial expectations were major obstacles as they struggled to establish their identity.