The Cuban Revolution and Its Impact on Poverty
The most cited and discussed subject about Cuba's history was the Cuban Revolution. Many stories have been written describing the traumatizing experience that people went through at the time of the revolution to deliberate on the political and social institutions and the way they affected the people lived. The suffering by the main characters in Adelaida Fernández de Juan's Before the Birthday Party, Leonardo Padura Fuentes' The Happy Death of Alborada Almanza, and Margarita Mondrus Engle's Nina undercores the extreme level of poverty and lack of social services that accompanied the Cuban Revolution.
Extreme Poverty During the Revolution
Hardship in Cuba during the revolution is best manifested through the extreme level of poverty that people were subjected to at the time. It is expected that a family is able to meet its social needs especially when there is a necessity of meeting the basic family needs. However, residents of Cuba were overwhelmed by their poor state to a level that they could not meet their health and medical needs and would witness their family members succumb to their conditions. In her short story Nina, Engle narrates a story of a family that had given up on their daughter who needed medical attention but she could not get it because the family had no money to take her to a doctor. The narrator describes, "I knew the hole in Nina's stomach was growing. She was disappearing, vanishing before my eyes" (Engle 148). The author's message about the Cuban Revolution is that the rebellion led to poverty and people were unable to meet their health needs because of the political unrest.
The Challenge of Poverty in Everyday Life
The other author that focuses on the theme of poverty is Juan in her story Before the Birthday Party. The author states writes "plastic glasses, spoons of some kind, a flowered tablecloth for the cake table, a lidded pail for the lemonade, little candles and paper streamers: these were all on her list, and so far she had only managed to get the tablecloth and the pail, both on loan from her cousin in San Antonio de los Baños" (Juan 1). The author underlines that even though the narrator needed many items in her preparations for the birthday party, she had only managed some on loan. It means that they were so poor that they could barely afford anything by themselves yet they needed to live and celebrate as they did before the revolution.
Lack of Social Amenities and Services
The other major theme that is apparent regarding the suffering Cubans underwent was from the lack of social amenities and services. Juan begins the narration in a setting where there was a blackout, which meant that people had to use their lamps instead. The other author that identifies the lack of social amenities was a challenge for Cubans is Fuentes. The author uses a sarcastic tone to describe the "happy death" of Almanza and suggests that she had been promoted to heaven where she could get what she desired and that was not available anymore in Cuba. The author writes, "It had been ten years since that thick and creamy milk had disappeared from the Island's markets, yet there it was" (Fuentes 2). It underscores the fact that people had gone for so long without access to public facilities and social resources due to the instability in the country.
Conclusion
In summary, the Cuban Revolution was associated with suffering as people experienced poverty and the lack of social services. The attention to the subject is drawn by the fact that the movement was a political dilemma. Overall, while it was inevitable as a foundation for change, it had adverse effects on the social perspective.
Works Cited
Engle, Margarita Mondrus. Nina. London: Arte Publico Press, 1993. Print.
Fuentes, Leonardo Padura. “The Happy Death of Alborada Almanza.” n. pag. Print.
Juan, Adelaida Fernández de. “Before the Birthday Party.” n. pag. Print.
