Literary Analysis of "We Came All The Way from Cuba so You Could Dress Like This"

Growing up is not an easy task for many children, especially girls, because they are often voiceless, forgotten, and dehumanized. Given the numerous challenges faced by women, this essay discusses the challenges faced by the narrator in the short story "We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This" written by Achy Obejas, and the actions she takes to confront and compromise these challenges.

An Examination of "We Came All The Way from Cuba so You Could Dress Like This"

This short story illustrates how women are marginalized in society. For many years, most sexual and social abnormalities have been marginalized so that the dominant family narrative either completely lacked or strove to punish or hide queer elements. This narrative represents anti-imperialistic and subversive acts that address the silencing of the peculiar family. The main character in this story is a politically radical woman who refuses to hide either her political or sexual relationships within the dominion of the family, despite heavy cultural proscriptions against this. Obejas, the author of the narrative, juxtaposes images of national and ancestral exile that force a recognition of queer oppression as part of the appropriation of a family model in nation-building. A person only has to look at who is blocking whom from inclusion to get a clear alignment of the dominant hierarchies, whether political or male-controlled, as well as heterosexist. The expression of violence designed to strengthen the status quo or the conservative straight states is very common in real-life situations and is included in Obejas's narrative. In this paper, the main thrust of the story is neither critical of social norms nor faultfinding in the context of the multifaceted political reality. Over the course of the non-linear narration, an abrupt break between the traditional and the revolutionary is not seen. Youths and queers are not marginalized; they cannot exist or be counted outside the family narrative. A close study of this narrative discloses a queering element that weaves through the entire family history, a pre-existing grain of sand that annoys and finally allows the formation of the pearl.

The story "We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?" is the final story in a collection by the same name, the first book published by the Cuban-American author Achy Obejas. Marcus Embry notes that this work is a remarkable collection of short stories or set pieces that together detail a young Cubana’s gradual intellectual, emotional, and sexual awakening and maturation. The main focus of Obejas is the principal character’s recounting of her arrival as a young girl in the United States of America. The family of the main character had joined the political-economic flight from socialist Cuba. Intermingled among images of that key moment, the main character narrates scraps of her young adult life, creating connections between exile, family, and her development of individual and sexual identity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Obejas, the author of the short story, delves deeper into the minds of the marginalized and neglected people in society with the idea of giving them their own freedom of communication and expression. The voice of these people is compromised by individual fiction and memories. According to the author of this book, the people who are being discussed are relegated to the extent of working just to survive. The source supports the working thesis because it shows the reader the bitter realization of growing up, the time when kids realize their experiences, how they got where they are, and why other people dislike them.

References

Obejas, A. (1994). We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? Cleis Press.

Embry, M. (n.d.). Review of We Came All the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? Retrieved from [insert source link].