Achy Obejas's Ruins Place in US Latino Literature - Essay Example

Your Achy Obejas’s “Ruins” Place in US Latino Literature Published in 2009, Achy Obejas’s “Ruins” hassecured its place in US Latino literature because of its political and economical relevance. The book covers a significant period in the history of international relations between the United States and Cuba; hence, its main protagonist, USnavy (a rare name coined from the one scribbled on a US Warship) confirmed that Achy Obejas had a premonition that his book would raise some dust in US literary cycles. USnavy, the main character in the novel “Ruins” does not let anything stand in his way of revolutionary loyalty to his home country Cuba. Despite the abject poverty that threatens his and his family’s survival, he remains resolutely in support of Cuban policies, lifestyles and ideology. This story occurs in 1994 when the United States placed both economic and political sanctions on Cuba (Kushner 2008). These sanctions had reportedly worsened the conditions of living for ordinary Cubans that some of them resorted to immigrate into the 2 United States en masse. Unlike his countrymen, Usnavy remains rooted in Cuba, hoping against hope to build a barbacoa (an illegal accommodation structure) on top of his parents’ building to house his family of three (his wife, 14-year-old daughter and himself) (Kushner 2008). He fed his family with any kind of food he can lay his hands on and provides encouragement for them by staying around them most of the time, despite the urgent need to find sources of sustenance for them. Achy Obejas shows the resilience of some Cubans in those days who had defied Castro’s urge to immigrate into the United States to save themselves and their families from hunger and lack of basic amenities. It is not clear how much of this exposition Achy Obejas wants the reader to take away in sympathizing with Usnavy and his poverty-stricken family; but it is obvious from the facts presented in the book that moving to America during those periods was a viable option to stay out of hunger and enjoy a better lifestyle—an option that many Cubans took to create a better life for themselves and their offspring in the United States. Hence, Achy Obejas’s “Ruins” has always been considered as primer for understanding the severity of conditions in Cuba then as thousands and thousands of Cuba flocked out of their home country to settle in some US cities, mainly in Miami. This economic migration could be regarded as one of the prominent reasons while US scholars, critics, and literature students are giving Achy Obejas’ “Ruins” a serious consideration. Usnavy, a Cuban facing many human challenges failed to achieve his primary objective of 3 building a home for his family atop his parents’ old building. His dream remains in ruins as he discovered that the ceiling of his parents’ building “is occupied by the family’s one valued possession: a Tiffany-like stained-glass chandelier, nearly seven feet wide, brought from his hometown near Guantanamo once upon a time.” (Kushner 2008). Usnavy’s disdain for America and all it stands for is evident in these expressions written by Achy Obejas: “After all, the Cubans—in this case blessed instead of being cursed by U.S. intervention—had electricity before most of the American South and other rural areas. But, to Usnavy’s chagrin, there was that constant confusion of the U.S. and modernity, as if living in the twentieth century were inextricably tied to the island’s northern neighbor, an undercurrent more powerful than any storm,” (Obejas 55). This revolutionary perspective of the United States may have been shared by millions of Usnavy’s contemporaries who had defied Castro’s advice to leave Cuba for the United States. This may also explains why there had been hardliners who gave unflinching support to Fidel Castrol that all previous attempts made by the United States to topple him were frustrated by his die-hard supporters. Achy Obejas’s book may not have covered the day to day experiences of Cuban-Americans, but it does shed light on the travails, poverty, lack of opportunities and personal disaffection that had beleaguered those that waited behind. This provides an opportunity for comparison and justification that the U.S. was truly instrumental to Cuban economic 4 survival owing to the amount of financial remittances Cuban-Americans make to their homeland every year to help their indigent relatives. Through comparisons, it is possible to establish that Usnavy’s “crackling, leaf-thin mattress” (Obejas 127) was more uncomfortable than the beds the immigrating Cubans had received from the hands of benevolent Americans; and the fact that he could not be given “anesthesia because there simply wasn’t any” (Obejas 204) during his hand surgery confirmed that he is subjected to inferior medical unlike his countrymen and countrywomen who had migrated into the United States and enjoyed medical facility. Another area of concern is that change in revolutionary ideology perceived in Usnavy and his wife. Kushner (2008) writes: “Usnavy’s own wife betrays the revolution by feeding their daughter one of the marinated slabs their neighbor sells as meat. Whether it really is meat, or just swatches of old blanket, is beside the point: the neighbor is engaged in capitalist bisnes, and Usnavy is opposed, even after he stealthily, and guiltily, gulps down her marinade.” Cuba was sold to the rest of the world as a Communist nation, but poverty and the needs to find daily livelihood pushed Cubans to embrace capitalism, for which they scathingly criticize America. It is undeniable that this confusion of ideologies make Achy Obejas’s book interesting and enigmatic to critics and students of literature. Apart from the fact that the novel details the day to day struggles of an ordinary Cuban citizen, it also reveals the machinations of the central Cuban Government in misleading its 5 citizenry into believing that the ideology of their country is the best, and the U.S. be seen as the Devil. In the light of facts presented above, Achy Obejas’s book has qualities of a historical novel spiced with political undertones. The book takes readers, most especially American readers, to the reasons behind the exodus of Cubans out of their country in the 90s, and how they had worked so hard to earn their living in their new abode. This explains why Cuban-Americans live in communities around one another as they provide help and emotional support for one another. This book highlights the economic deficiencies they had suffered while in Cuba, and for which they had worked against in their new home—the United States. Achy Obejas’s book could be regarded as an eye-opener for any American literature student that wants to compare the level or quality of life in the old Cuba and the U.S. It could serve as an avenue to discover the reasons for migration and integration into the American context. One would have expected the transition from Communist Cubans to democratic persons to be a very difficult process. However, Cuban community has proved to everyone that they are human beings who could adapt to any environment or political ideology with minimal difficulty. This is why Achy Obejas’s book has secured a significant place in the U.S. Latino literature. Though, this does not indicate that all students of Cuban-American literature will have access to this book, but it is clear that its contents are apt and helpful for American 6 literature to be conversant with both political and economical workings that drove thousands to Cubans to America in the 90s. This is an important issue that is still relevant in the current U.S.-Cuban relations as the two countries struggle to right the wrongs in their past relations. Even though Fidel Castrol has stopped being the leader of the Island, there are no indications that his anti-American policies have been mellowed or completely eradicated. Hence, a careful reader could see in Achy Obejas’s novel the dangers and repercussions of driving a group of people down misery and abject poverty due to self-destructive political ideology. In conclusion, Achy Obejas’s “Ruin” is a book of revelations and exposition: it shows how a country beset by bad political policies can cause problems for its citizenry. And this could end up in their immigration to another country where they hope that their needs would be met without pre-conditions. Works Cited Obejas, Achy. Ruins. New York, NY: Akashic Books, 2009. Print. Kushner, Rachel. “Failed States.”The New York Times 2 April 2009: International ed. Print. Read More