Waiting for Snow in Havana Quiz

1. Name 3 Conflicts and describe
· On the way back from a party with the family, Carlos and his family are approached by a man who begs for them to help him because he is going to be killed. Carlos talks about how the look in his eyes reminded him of the looks in the eyes of Jesus from his reoccurring dream. Carlos feels bad for the man and his eyes make him want to try to help him, but they refuse to do so and they leave the man, only to see his picture the next day after him being killed.
· Carlos’ aunt on his father’s side ends up having an affair with an American man and becoming pregnant from him. Even though she and the man were both married, they end up having a child and getting married. This causes the family to segregate her and simply not deal with her because they did not agree with the way she acts. This later changes when Carlos insists that he meets her, so his father must meet with her and then the rest of the family soon follows and begins to interact with her again.
· Marie Antoinette and Louis the XVI fight during Christmas time. Carlos’ father insists on having the nativity scene which is a native Cuban custom, while his mother desires to put up a Christmas tree which is a more Americanized custom. Carlos decides that he prefers the Christmas tree because he enjoys the gifts that Santa brings. This conflict shows the ideologies of the two parents; his father was stuck in his Cuban ways while his mother was on the verge of Americanization.

2. Name and describe 3 Motifs
· The reoccurring dream of Jesus scares Carlos. Carlos feels as though the dreams represent his sins and the need for him to forget about all of his desires and become a better person. For example, the dream occurs after Carlos gets drunk as a youth, and this scares Carlos because he fears that Jesus has something to tell him and he doesn’t know what it is he wants to tell him.
· The lizard is a reoccurring symbol in the book, as Carlos constantly tries to kill them due to his strong abhorrence of them. The lizard simply represents the Cubans and their persistency to live their life the way it was before, showing their blindness to their changing environment.
· The Cuban shaped cloud reminds Carlos of his life in Cuba. It also shows how nothing is permanent seeing as how his life in Cuba changed and he was sent away to the Americas.

3. Describe two themes (major and minor)
· Freedom (major)- freedom is a major theme in the memoir because Carlos constantly speaks of how Cuba had so many more freedoms then the U.S did before Castro came to power. He talks of how Cubans could do more and experience more “dangers” then the people of the U.S. and he really enjoyed this. However, after Fidel rises and all of the privileges in Cuba are taken away, the Cubans really experience what it is like to not have the freedom that they were so proud of before.
· Anger (minor)- anger is a minor theme seeing as how he becomes angry at the idea that his father knows that things are starting to change as Fidel rises to power but he does nothing to save them or protect them. Carlos and his brother viewed their father as the “protector” but he did nothing when he realized things were changing in Cuba, seeing as how their mother was the one who made the decision to send them to America.

4. Describe two moments that he describes his childhood in a different way
· His recounting of the incident with the “zoo” is particularly unique in my opinion. Carlos speaks of how one of his neighbors turned his backyard into a zoo and he talks about the cursing birds and the monkey. He then remembers the monkey in a green outfit and how the monkey escapes and bites him on the butt. This moment in which he describes his childhood really sticks out because it really personifies the animals and his memory of the scene is impeccable.
· When Carlos tells of his Aunt Lucia who had no desires, he really remembers things from a mature view. He speaks of how she had no desires and no friends and she basically just went through life without trying to do anything with herself or others. She eventually works after her mother dies and she owns the house they lived in, but she handed over the deeds and lived in a backroom. Carlos says that he wishes that she had desires and that he would have wanted her to desire to die in the very house that she owned. In this case, this account was a very mature memory seeing as how not many youths would think in such a way.

5. Discuss theme of forgiveness

The theme of forgiveness is very significant throughout the memoir. Carlos continuously remarks of how he must forgive his father since he had become angry at him. Carlos gets mad that his father noticed the changes happening in Cuba and did nothing to save them. He later forgives his father as he has a dream in which his father appears saying that he is free now.