The Characters
Celia, the matriarch of the family, is an old woman at the outset, but she is nevertheless a strong supporter of the new ways that Fidel Castro (El Lider) has imposed upon her native country. Her religious views are somewhat ambivalent; while she is nominally a Catholic, as most people in her country are, one of the earliest scenes in the novel involves a Santeria ceremony. Celia is first seen guarding the coast of Cuba against a replay of the Bay of Pigs invasion, and she is last shown at a Santeria ceremony following the death of her daughter Felicia.
Lourdes lives at the opposite extreme. She has fled to the United States and runs a bakery in New York City. She opens a second bakery during the second section of the book and dreams of franchising a series of bakeries. Lourdes, though born in Cuba, is never seen in that country until the epilogue, when she appears at her sister’s funeral.
Pilar, Lourdes’s daughter, is very American; she is interested in punk rock and is attempting to become a bass player in a rock band. On the other hand, she is also very interested in Cuba, and she finds it difficult to tolerate her mother’s fanatic hatred of Communism. She feels contempt for capitalist society and misses her older relatives in Cuba.
Felicia, who never leaves Cuba, is extremely opposed to Communism. Like her mother, she often has visions of the deceased Jorge.
Luz and Milagro, Felicia’s twin daughters, are more interested in modern life than in their mother’s feelings. Milagro’s words are never seen in the book. She is the younger twin (by a few minutes). Luz does express her thoughts, and those thoughts are generally negative. She thinks that her mother is crazy (Felicia does spend some time in an asylum) and that there must be a better way of dealing with things. She makes some attempts, later in life, to visit her father, who has fled to Czechoslovakia.
Ivanito is a little boy throughout the book. He is five years old as the story opens, thirteen when it closes. Ivanito is the only one of Felicia’s children who clearly loves his mother. He is the only character in Dreaming in Cuban for whom readers feel genuine sympathy. He is torn between his love for his capitalist aunt, his anti-Communist mother, and his ancient grandmother.
Characters Discussed
Celia Del Pino
Celia Del Pino (PEE -noh), the aging matriarch of the Del Pino family, a lifelong resident of Cuba, and a loyal Socialist. She proudly volunteers for the revolution and assists by harvesting sugar cane, judging local domestic disputes in the town hall, and watching for invaders from her porch swing overlooking the northern coast. After her husband, Jorge Del Pino, moved to New York to get cancer treatments, she replaced his photo on her nightstand with one of El Líder (Fidel Castro). She dreams of embracing the dictator on a red velvet divan. Celia’s passion for the revolution divides her family: She is independent and takes care of herself but is unable to hold her family together. Her children have left, one by one: Lourdes to New York, Javier to Czechoslovakia, and Felicia to insanity. She cares for Felicia’s children but ultimately is alone with her deep love of Cuba and the unpredictable sea, her clairvoyant visions, her dreams of long-ago lover Gustavo, and the persistent hope that granddaughter Pilar will return to Cuba, embrace family roots, and sustain their history. Her early life is revealed through her letters written to...
(This entire section contains 804 words.)
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Gustavo.
Lourdes Puente
Lourdes Puente (LOOR-dehs PWEHN-teh), Celia’s first child. During the early years of the revolution, Lourdes miscarried her second child, a son. Angry and sad, she tried to defend her husband’s family’s ranch before it was confiscated, and she was raped by a soldier. She turns completely against Cuba and communism, embracing exile as a capitalist. With her husband and two-year-old daughter Pilar, she moves to New York, where she opens first one, then another successful Yankee Doodle Bakery. Domineering, compulsive, and fiercely proud to be American, she sends photos of pastries to her mother to emphasize the food shortages and lower standard of living in Cuba. She is never close to Celia, and the revolution drives them further apart. Lourdes finds solace as her father’s favorite child and devotes her savings to his comfort during his final years. He repays her devotion by returning after death to accompany her on twilight walks through the city. When she goes to Cuba for Felicia’s funeral, she meets her nephew, Ivanito, and gives him money so he can leave Cuba.
Felicia Villaverde
Felicia Villaverde (feh-LEE-see-ah vee-yah-VEHR-deh), Celia’s second child. She remains in Cuba but is ambivalent about the revolution. She is poetic but unreachable because syphilis, contracted from her violent, unloving first husband, is slowly destroying her brain. Mentally unstable and passionately interested in black magic, she spends weeks inside her dark apartment, dancing in her nightgown to Beny Moré records and feeding her three children nothing but coconut ice cream. In a final attempt to salvage her own life, she becomes a santera, an initiate of the African-influenced Santería religion of the region. Ritual sacrifices prove useless, as do prayers and the help of friends. She dies, her body and mind twisted by disease.
Pilar Puente
Pilar Puente (pee-LAHR), Lourdes’ teenage daughter. A rebellious artist, Pilar scoffs at her mother’s compulsive patriotism and refuses to work at the bakery. She longs to see her grandmother Celia again, having communicated clairvoyantly and by letter with her since childhood, so she runs away from home toward Cuba. She makes it to the home of her father’s family in Miami and is sent back to Brooklyn, where her desire to visit Cuba fades, along with her evening conversations with Celia. She becomes increasingly self-absorbed, angry, and distant from Lourdes and from her family’s history until she enters college, where she eventually reembraces her roots. She returns to Cuba with Lourdes, reuniting the remaining family.
Jorge Del Pino
Jorge Del Pino (HOHR-heh), Celia’s husband. Although deceased before the opening of the story, Jorge still plays a major part in events. He regularly appears as an apparition, and he gives advice to his wife and daughters. Jorge’s advice seems to confirm whatever the living characters feel; ironically, the only supernatural character in the novel often comes across as the most rational one.
Ivanito Villaverde
Ivanito Villaverde (ee-vahn-EE-toh), Felicia’s son. Ivanito is five years old when the story opens and thirteen as it closes. Ivanito is the only character for whom the reader feels unquestioned sympathy. When Felicia sets her husband on fire and locks the children in the house, Ivanito is the only one of her children to stand by her. As the youngest character in the novel, Ivanito is the only one who has not yet formed political opinions. He loves and is loved by all the adult members of the family. In this sense, Ivanito is a major focus of attention, symbolizing the human aspects of a complex society torn apart by social, political, and religious differences.
List of Characters
Abuelo Guillermo and Abuela Zaida
They are Pilar's paternal (Rufino Puente) grandparents in Florida.
Gustavo Sierra de Armas
A married Spanish lawyer from Granada, Gustavo is Celia's true love. Celia
marries Jorge when Gustavo returns to Spain, but continues to write him letters
every 11th of the month. She never sends the letters: some are included as
epistolary chapters.
Blanquito
Blanquite is Pilar's cousin in Florida.
Ernesto Brito
Ernesto is Felicia's second husband. He is nervous and gentle. He is a
restaurant inspector.
Otto Cruz
>Felicia's third husband, he works at an amusement park.
Herminia Delgado
Felicia's best and most loyal friend. Celia had once forbade Felicia from going
to Herminia's house because her family practices Santeria.
Sister Federica
She is the nun who cared for Jorge in New York while he was sick.
Ruben Florin
Ruben is Pilar's boyfriend.
Minnie French
Minnie is a girl Pilar befriends on her bus trip to Florida.
Berta Arango del Pino
Berta is Jorge's mother. Controlling and verbally abusive, she is Celia's
biggest antagonist.
Ofelia del Pino
Ofelina is Berta's daughter, Jorge's sister, and Celia's other antagonist.
Celia (Almeida) del Pino
The matriarch of the family and the novel, Celia del Pino is an ardent
supporter of the Cuban Revolution, has tenuous relationships with her
children. Her fervor for the revolution is only surpassed by
her love of family, a strong bond with her granddaughter, Pilar, and her
inherent connection with nature and the sea.
Javier del Pino
Celia's youngest, Javier, shares Celia's revolutionary spirit. For most of the
novel, he is in Czechoslovakia.
Irina del Pino
Javier's wife.
Irinita del Pino
Javier and Irina's daughter.
Jorge del Pino
Celia's husband, Jorge, is a benevolent character: a salesman, traveling much
of the time. He appears in the novel in his wife and daughters' memories. He
posthumously visits Celia and daughter Lourdes.
Lourdes (del Pino) Puente
Celia's older daughter, Lourdes moves to New York City with her daughter,
Pilar. Lourdes is very strong willed, despises communism, has a close bond with
her father, and does not understand Celia's fervor for the Revolution.
Pilar Puente
As many teenagers/young adults do, Pilar has a combative relationship with
her mother, Lourdes. She is into art, punk culture, and as Celia's most kindred
spirit, Pilar becomes the central figure and eventual matriarch of the
story.
Rufino Puente
Lourdes's husband, Rufino, mostly keeps to himself, making Lourdes the
breadwinner of the family. He supports Pilar in her painting.
Tia Alicia
Celia's great-aunt, she plays a prominent role in Celia's upbringing.
Tia Rosario
Tia is Blanquito's mother.
Felicia (del Pino) Villaverde
Perhaps the most troubled character, Felicia, Celia's youngest, marries three
times, each one ending tragically. She has twin daughters, Luz and Millagro,
and a son, Ivanito.
Ivanito Villaverde
Felicia and Hugo's son, Ivanito is very close to his mother, and feels
excluded from his sisters and their bond with their father.
Luz and Millagro Villaverde
Felicia's twin daughters, they have always stayed loyal to their father, Hugo,
dismissing Felicia and her "pretty, meaningless words" and her refer to
her as their "not-Mama."
Hugo Villaverde
Hugo is Felicia's first husband, who reveals his violent abusiveness after they
are married.
Characters
Ernesto Briot
Felicia's second husband, Ernesto is a pale, gentle, and prudent restaurant
inspector. He and Felicia are married shortly after they meet, and he dies
before they can sanctify their marriage with directions from the
santero and before they can even celebrate their union.
Otto Cruz
Felicia's third and final husband, Otto also dies shortly after they are
married, although for more dubious reasons.
Herminia DelgadoHerminia is Felicia's best friend from childhood until her death. Herminia's father is a babalawo, a high priest of Santeria, and Santeria would become a sanctuary for Felicia for her entire life. She would come to believe that tragedies in her life were attributed to times when she strayed from the directives of santeros and santeras. Felicia's first words to Herminia, on the beach when they were just six years old, were: "Will you save me?" This established their roles as protectors of each other.
Celia (Almeida) delPinoCelia is the matriarch. She is strong-willed, an intuitive and caring mother, a hopeless romantic (given that she continues to write Gustavo clear into the 1950s), and she is an ardent supporter of the Cuban Revolution. When her husband, Jorge, is injured in an accident, Celia is surprised how affected she is by this, concluding that she does really love Jorge, just not as passionately as Gustavo. It is difficult to say which of her children she is closest to. In proximity, she is closest to Felicia, but Felicia's life is so fraught with strife that their relationship often revolves around those troubles. Lourdes is in New York and, her geographical difference coincides with their polar opposite political beliefs. For most of the novel, Celia's youngest child, Javier, is in Czechoslovakia although it is alluded to that he shared Celia's political views. Even though Pilar left Cuba when she was only two, Celia's closest bond is with her. They have an inherent connection. Pilar says she listens to Celia talking to her at night from Cuba. Celia is proud of her own role in the revolution (she watches the coast at night from her porch), and she serves as a judge for the People's Court in Santa Teresa del Mar. Celia is as in tune with the natural Cuban landscape as she is with the political. When she is alone, watching the sea, she seems to be most at home with herself.
Felicia del Pino (Villaverde, Brito, Cruz)Felicia is the youngest daughter and most emotionally troubled character; this trouble can be largely attributed to tragic events in her life. Felicia's first husband, Hugo, is abusive and she eventually resorts to drastic actions to get rid of him. Her second husband, Ernesto, dies tragically in a restaurant fire just days after they are married. Her third husband, Otto, also dies shortly after they are married. Felicia's twin daughter's, Luz and Milagro, are strangers to her. They ally themselves with their father and refer to her as their "not-Mama," because of her seemingly delusional poetic musing and the fact that they saw what she did to Hugo, their father. Felicia's best friend is Herminia Delgado who introduces her to Santeria, and this occupies Felicia's thoughts and actions in the way the revolution occupies Celia's. Felicia is perhaps closest to her son, Ivanito. The twins tell him that he will end up crazy like his mother. Thus, a divide is established between the family: Felicia and Ivanito on one side; Hugo, Luz, and Milagro on the other.
Javier delPino
Javier spent his adult life in Czechoslovakia. It is alluded that he may
share Celia's political and rebellious spirit. When he returns to Cuba, he is
broken, insular, and wanders off alone, presumably to die. Of all the
travesties in the novel, he is perhaps the most tragic, receiving care from
only his mother before dying in obscurity.
Jorge delPino
Celia's husband, Jorge, figures retrospectively in the memories of the
delPino women. His most significant moments in the
novel, presented in the present tense, are his posthumous visit to Celia at the
beginning of the novel and his conversations with Lourdes in New
York. Jorge seemed to be a good, dependable husband (accepting Celia's love for
Gustavo) and a kind, protective father.
Lourdes (delPino) Puente
Lourdes moved to New York when Pilar was two years old, close to
the time when Castro took over the country. Lourdes is pro-American,
pro-capitalism, and is Celia's political opposite. Before she leaves for New
York, she sees the government take her in-laws' land and is
assaulted by revolutionary soldiers. These events may have played a role in
Lourdes's hatred for the revolution and in her strong-willed,
Republican militancy with respect to politics and civic duty.
When her father comes to New York to get cancer treatment, her appetite for
baked goods is equalled by her appetite for sex (to the joy and eventual
exhaustion of her husband, Rufino). She enjoys working in the
bakery and, like Celia's espousal of the revolution and her role as People's
Court judge, Lourdes takes great pride in this solitary duty
as well as her role as a civilian police officer. Rufino plays a
minor role in her life and in the novel. For the most part, her life is the
bakery and the hot/cold relationship with her daughter,
Pilar. Lourdes is stubborn in her conservative political views,
does not understand Pilar's interest in music and art, but she
does defend her daughter's anti-patriotism during a pivotal moment in the
novel. In the novel itself, Lourdes's closest companion is her
father, Jorge, and their relationship is illustrated by conversations they have
after Jorge has died.
PilarPuentePilar lives in Brooklyn, having left Cuba when she was two, but she feels an inherent connection to Cuba, particularly with her grandmother, Celia. Pilar's resistance to her mother is a natural reaction of teenage/young adult angst, but also a simple difference of personalities. Pilar is more open-minded, not just because of her youth, but because she is artistic and maybe also because she, more than any character in the novel, is caught between two cultures. She daydreams, and eventually dreams (in sleep) in Spanish (in Cuban). She hears Celia talking to her at night, and by the end of the novel, the reader learns that she is the matriarchal heir apparent—not a matriarch in the sense of becoming a mother figure, but in becoming the one who "will remember everything," the history, interpersonal relationships, and the psychic connection between the women of the delPino family.
RufinoPuenteLourdes's husband, Rufino, comes from a rich Cuban family, whose land was appropriated by the rebels during the revolution. It was at this time that he, Lourdes, and two-year-old Pilar moved to New York. He is described as a hard worker, especially relative to his well-to-do family. But, in New York, Rufino spends most of his time working on mechanical projects, relying on Lourdes to make a living for the family. His role as a husband might be described as perfunctory but certainly not loyal. He does, however, encourage Pilar in her painting. This is perhaps because he has never felt at home in New York.
Gustavo Sierra deArmasGustavo is Celia's first true love. Celia writes him a letter every 11th of the month for years and because she never sends them, his role in her life, and in the novel, is a relationship with memory. Celia's relationship with Gustavo is an actual event that has become more in memory than it was in life. It is comparable to Pilar's nostalgic yearning for Celia and Cuba. For both, memory becomes an escape.
Hugo Villaverde
Hugo is Felicia's first abusive husband, who stays in touch with
his children thanks to Luz and Milagro's loyalty in seeking him
out.
IvanitoVillaverdeIvanito is Felicia's youngest child, and they share a close bond. He is quiet and observant, but eventually opens up to Pilar. His sisters tell him he will end up crazy like his mother, and he senses that the division between his mother and his sisters is analogous to a political divide: one in which he may eventually have to choose sides.
Luz and MilagroVillaverde
Felicia's twins have an impenetrable bond; they refer to themselves as a
"double helix." They have an adversarial relationship with their mother. They
have allied themselves with their father, Hugo, presumably not knowing of their
father's abusive behavior and also not fully understanding their mother's
turbulent past and mental state.