The cuban mile composition

Latina American Societies

Book record

The Cuban Mile

The Cuban Mile, written by Cuban native Alejandro Hernandez Diaz, is a history about two Cubans who set sea for Arkansas in hopes of actually finding more successful lives. The author publishes articles as if he was one of the asile, and we happen to be reading his journal items. The quest lasts seven days, with certainly many entries per day. The entries happen to be categorized by simply how a large number of miles these two men have journeyed by that point. The narrator and his buddy in regulation are on their very own way to meet Cynthia, who will be the sis of one as well as the wife of the other. She was awarded a chance to study in the us and believes her family can enjoy increased success in a capitalist culture.

Every single man has his very own reason for departing his region, the narrator, only twenty, wants to certainly be a painter and feels zero ties to his friends and family or region, while his brother in law, 28, is a sailor man and desires to obtain the souple of America. It really is uncertain as to why the narrator might risk his life to leave Emborrachar, the only noticeable reasons will be his solitude from his family and his desire to be along with his sister, who has faith in him and believes he can be a great painter in the usa. Obviously, his brother in law wants to be with his wife, although he offers dreams of wind-surfing yagts surviving in excess. Neither likes the other all too much, they seem to have got sincere contempt for each various other as they are in fact quite opposing and never understand one another much. The sailor may be the macho, right wing type, while the painter has an effeminate, artistic sparkle to him. Along the trip, Commodore, since hes referred to as by the narrator, attempts to the time with chatting, as the narrator prefers to read the literature he helped bring along. Sometimes theyll communicate, swaying among playful putting fun and long monologues that the other will not listen to.

The goal of these two refugees shall be picked up by the United States Shoreline Guard and stay brought back to American garden soil. On the sixth day, the see one other ship, nevertheless not those of the Seacoast Guard. Commodore paddles ferociously, so as to not be seen with what he interprets to be a Cuban vessel. To loose weight and travel and leisure faster, this individual instructs his partner to toss above his carrier of catalogs. The narrator, torn above whether or not to create such a sacrifice, inadvertently throws over their hydrant in his dilemma. As they gradually dehydrate and turn into sicker, as storm comes through, and this is all the Commodore can take. This individual lets him self get chucked into the marine, where he presumably drowns. By next day, the narrator him self dies, wonderful corpse flows along within their boat.

I personally did not discover this book to become entertaining in any way. Towards the end I found myself pushing along faster, but my motive was not curiosity to see what happens caused by literary suspense, it absolutely was impatience to finally get this assignment above. Im let’s assume that, although most likely not totally, the story was supposed to be to some extent humorous, since I could locate little compound to it, but I found all the little rants from the narrator being quite annoying. Speaking about the Commodore once in Ohio, he says Laugh, smile you bastard and revel in the sub-par ideal of sipping Coke and Bacardi while you to use a tavern in Very little Havana trading lies with Sylvester Stallone. Im sure its within the character of your young aspiring artist, attempting and developing his thoughts and values, apparently the black sheep of his family, to be bitter and ridicule or question every thing around him. My is actually, I couldnt figure out the particular point was- if I or perhaps anyone else wanted to the rants of a mixed up mind, most we have to carry out is believe back to the weird, misunderstood kid in high school. If we do that, we all remember obtain many persons liked him. Its something to be or perhaps relate to that kid, most of us have a little of that in us, but its another for taking his diary and distribute it, considering it would help to make a good book, whether hes on an exciting journey or not. If perhaps there were different insights available, at least one other tone of voice, or even a goal, then Alejandro Hernandez Diaz would have the makings of the possibly good book, by least exceptional and with any luck , interesting.

I think what left these kinds of a sour taste in my mouth was that occasionally it would seem just like he was for the track in order to some kind of point, or even simply giving me a meaningless giggle, but whenever he would minimize short and move on to a totally different idea. If the publication was to become just a standard drama, then the characters will have to be created much more intended for the reader to care about their fate or perhaps their ideas and thoughts. Im actually just dropped as to what the authors goal was. On the back that talks about the study of the psychology of risk and desire. All I obtained out of it along these lines was the way the pain was so not bearable (the tens of pages of sheer crying might have been my own biggest pet peeve) that he had to resort to sleeping pills as an escape from his hyper imaginative head. While the risk is clear, due to poor character development Im unsure what their particular desires also were. There exists very little qualifications given in these two, your life in Tanque remains a mystery, and what they wish to get out of America is so simple and basic it becomes unclear. It is like listening to a press conference of any bad politician, when they declare things like I want better schools for our children. There are diverse ideas of what a better school involves, or how you can achieve possibly that same idea. Their just a umbrella, watered down declaration that says absolutely nothing, and this simply was my carry out this book.

At this point, given the fact that I nearly feel like We read nothing, Im almost sure the right way to relate this book to a social theory mentioned in class. In going through my personal notes, I realize that in several ways bits and pieces of this book confront Modernization Theory, so I will attempt to show in what ways. Firstly, the most obvious aspect is that Emile Durkheim thought that persons in underdeveloped nations had to change their very own values and beliefs to fit those of america in order to develop or modernize. In my perspective, especially in the case of Tanque, it seems most of the people do reveal many of our social beliefs, or else there wouldnt be thousands who risk their lives to come ashore, or a book drafted with actually only two characters, both of which attempt to reach the U. S i9000. Thats two out of two, fully, and this gained the Countrywide Young Cuban Writers award for best story. Demand for American products just like Coke probably would not be so high if not for the Cubans desire to be more American. So , assuming?nternet site do that the beliefs is there, then Durkheim is wrong in by least this aspect of his thoughts that contributed to Modernization Theory.

This as well goes against Max Webers idea regarding the Protestant ethic. Assuming that Cubans perform have satisfactory beliefs to build up in place and the vast majority are generally not Protestant in faith, the other would not must be Protestant or perhaps believe in predestination in order to get the necessary values to develop their particular country. Salvation Panic might not be the only reason for one to continue to work hard to succeed.

Also, Webers assumption that third world countries (although I assume technically Tanque would fall in the second world) have a fatalistic frame of mind must also end up being false. I actually dont believe someone regarded as being fatalistic could risk their particular life to higher themselves. They wouldnt consciously decide that there is a better existence for them and take control of all their lives and risk every thing in the expect of giving themselves better opportunities. Such things as hope and a prefer to risk ones life dont seem like features of a fatalist, in fact both of these ideas are in direct contradiction. If you want to speak about a dichotomy, I would declare right there is one, for least a concrete one particular, not the construct of someones mind like Durkheims comparison of classic and modern societies.

Even though this isnt nearly as complete a rebuttal against Modernization Theory while Dependency Theory is, and even though I wouldnt recommend looking over this book to anybody, in many ways The Cuban Mile do have shades of contradictions to the theory present within their cover. In a few instances the narrator takes back to this island then and give a few insights into their way of life, and in a few other circumstances he will present a peek of what might be dealing with the mind of any normal Cuban and what kinds of be

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