Quiz

Quiz – Waiting for Snow in Havana
1. List three conflicts and describe them
· The first conflict is between Carlos and himself. He feels conflicted in his Private School where the monks teach at because they teach him all about sin and going to hell. This is a conflict for him because he always feels like in life that he is doing something sinful that will land him in hell. This is why he was so nervous in the part of the book where he went to Confession; much to his relief he was forgiven for his sins (his kleptomania, blowing up lizards, etc…). Carlos also feels conflicted because he doesn’t understand why his father cares more about his collectibles and his antique collection then he does of his own children.
· I would say that the second conflict is between the new communist government in Cuba and the citizens of Cuba. Thousands are taken to jail, only to be thrown in front of a wall (Paredon!) and shot at by a firing squad (Sometimes they would even use blanks just to scare the prisoners). Life as Carlos once knew it was destroyed once Fidel took power, and there is much tension between the citizens and the new communist government.
· The third conflict is maybe between Carlos and God. God is mentioned a lot in this book, Carlos attended a private Catholic school, and God followed him everywhere. God was prevalent in his family and culture. He had conflicts with God because often he would want to do something that was sinful, yet he knew he shouldn’t in fear of landing in hell.

2. Choose three motifs and describe:
· Lizards – Lizards are mentioned in almost every chapter and they are very significant in the story. I think the Lizards represent the people of Cuba. They are hopeless and helpless. Carlos and his neighborhood friends would blow up the lizards without the lizards having any protest or chance to defend themselves, similar to the people of Cuba with Fidel Castro. Also, I remember in one chapter, Eire finished it by saying that a dismembered lizards tail was flapping in Castro’s project, comparing it to the people of Cuba.
· Clouds shaped as Cuba – Once Carlos moves to the States he seems over eight thousand clouds shaped as the island of Cuba. This shows his irretrievable loss of Cuba and his longing for his once blissful life there.
· Sunset – I think the sunset is a motif in the memoir because whenever Carlos talked about the “tangerine sunset” he was always happy and safe and with his family. It represents the good days, before Castro.

3. The major theme of the book is loss and longing. Carlos loses the Cuba he once knew and longs for it (this is shown in many instances of the book. Example: clouds shaped as Cuba).
The minor theme of the memoir would be forgiveness.

4. Carlos’s childhood was picaresque. An unexpected memory of his childhood to me would be:
· When Carlos was wave riding on the beach in Havana and the wave was so large and strong that it pushed him back into the sand face first. Ernesto then sat on his face and further buried him into the sand. He remembers the pain of the sand in his eyes and ears; yet he mentions his laughter afterwards.
· His memory of his rock fights with his friends and the apricot pit being thrown at his face. This is one of his greatest childhood memories; him and his brother and neighborhood friends having rock fights, while Louis XVI would watch. Yet, it was also very painful for him. Like the time the apricot pit hit above his eye. And the time that Eugenio (I think it was Eugenio) had a large rock, almost a boulder, fall on him during one of the rock fights. It was a bittersweet memory.

5. Carlos is full of forgiveness. The priest forgives him for his sins. He forgives his enemies. I remember once he even wrote something like this: “Forgive your enemy always. If they want to rape or murder you, let them. If they want to steal from you, open your pockets to them…but always forgive them.” This is part of his religion. As hard as it may seem for Carlos, he forgives Fidel and Cuba.
Eire was also very humorous in the book. His curse words and irony were very funny to me. He was very ironic, and made fun of many things. He made fun of his parents and his family in very humorous ways. He made fun of the Revolutionaries and Fidel (he saved them all from being gay.) His irony was very funny to me.