the cuban mile

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Latin American Societies
Book report

The Cuban Mile

The Cuban Mile, written by Cuban native Alejandro Hernandez Diaz, is a story about two Cubans who set sea for Miami in hopes of finding more successful lives. The author writes as if he was one of the refugees, and we are reading his journal entries. The journey lasts seven days, with obviously many entries per day. The entries are categorized by how many miles these two men have traveled by that point. The narrator and his brother in law are on their way to meet Cynthia, who is the sister of one and the wife of the other. She was awarded the opportunity to study in America and believes her loved ones can enjoy greater success in a capitalist society.
Each man has his own reason for leaving his country; the narrator, only 20, wants to be a painter and feels no ties to his family or country, while his brother in law, 28, is a sailor and wishes to reap the riches of America. It really is unclear as to why the narrator would risk his life to leave Cuba, the only apparent reasons are his isolation from his family and his desire to be with his sister, who has faith in him and believes he can be a great painter in the United States. Obviously, his brother in law wishes to be with his wife, while he has dreams of sailing yagts living in excess. Neither likes the other all too much, they seem to have sincere contempt for each other as they are actually quite opposite and don’t understand one another much. The sailor is the macho, right wing type, while the painter has an effeminate, artistic flair to him. Along the trip, “Commodore”, as he’s called by the narrator, attempts to pass the time with chatting, while the narrator prefers to read the books he brought along. Occasionally they’ll interact, swaying between playful poking fun and long monologues that the other doesn’t listen to.
The goal of these two refugees is to be picked up by the United States Coast Guard and be brought back to American soil. On the fifth day, the see another ship, but it’s not that of the Coast Guard. Commodore paddles ferociously, so as to not be seen by what he perceives to be a Cuban vessel. To loose weight and travel faster, he instructs his partner to toss over his bag of books.

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