“We Came All The Way From Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?” By Achy Obejas Book Review

Achy Obejas reveals her life story in her autobiographic work We Came All The Way From Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?, where the author explores the transformation of the narrator and her coming of age. At the same time, this is not just the story of a girl coming of age but it is also the story of the person, who undergoes profound trnasfomrations and confronts numerous conflicts which affect her parents, her social environment and her personality. Therefore, the narrator of the story confronts both internal and external conflicts which intertwine and affect each other and ultimately lead to the profound transformation of the main character of the story and her coming of age.

Achy faces the deep internal conflict, because, as she grows up, she confronts the problem of her sexuality which she cannot identify clearly. To put it more precisely, the author uncovers the problem of homosexuality of the narrator since Achy feels being lesbian and discovers her sexuality in such unconventional way. However, her sexuality confronts dominant biases and stereotypes with regard to the sexuality of a young girl. This is the common problem which many authors attempt to reveal in their works, but Obejas does it with the particular attention to the inner world of the narrator (Costa. 2003).

At the same time, she confronts the conflict between her heritage and American cultural environment, where she lives. She has the strong feeling of being Cuban but she lives in the US. She wants to explore her cultural background and understand what Cuba really is like and what Cubans are. However, she cannot do it because she lives in the US and does not have real opportunities to travel to Cuba and to learn more about her home country. The narrator definitely confronts the problem of the lack of cultural identity (Textor, 2006). She is Cuban in the US, but she does not perceive herself as the true American because her heritage is still too strong in her views and wants to learn more about her Cuban background and Cuban people and culture. On the other hand, she is a stranger for Cubans because she has spent her entire life in the US so far and she has become rather American than Cuban for people, who stayed in Cuba. In such a situation, Achy suffers from the lack of cultural identity because she does not feel to be neither American nor Cuban. Such problem of her identity creates the tension and internal sufferings of the main character which urge her to act and to learn more about her country of origin.

The conflict between Achy heritage and her current cultural environment goes outside her internal struggle. The externalization of the conflict becomes particularly obvious, when Achy father virtually bans her to go to Cuba, even though she has finally got such an opportunity. The interpersonal conflict between the narrator and her father is one of the central conflicts of the story because the narrator is coming of age, while her father is probably unprepared for his daughter growing adult and independent. Achy wants to live the way she wants, while her father keeps teaching her how she should live. This is why conflicts between them grow stronger and the tension reaches the highest point, when Achy tells her father about her intention to go to Cuba, while her father bans her to do so. The author reveals the internal power of the main character of the story through such conflict. Achy turns out to be capable to confront her father, although he had the great authority and respect in their family. She used to respect and obey her father, but, as she grows older and becomes adult, she realizes that she has her own life, which she wants to build up by herself, but her father prevents her from doing so. This is why she has to rebel and refuses to give in to her father.

Even at the broader scale, the conflict between Achy heritage and her current environment reaches the level of the conflict between cultures. Achy rather personifies the American culture, where such values as freedom and personal choices prevail, while her father personifies the traditional Cuban culture, where connections and social ties are more important than personal wants and choices. This is why Achy wants to go to Cuba, whereas her father abandons Cuba because his employers did so and he could not afford the prospect of losing his social standing because of the destruction of his social ties which gave him power and position in his community.

Thus, Achy Obejas reveals her life story in her We Came All The Way From Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? through the revelation of her formative years as she was coming of age. The narrator of the story undergoes through complex changes and numerous conflicts, both internal and external. She has difficulties with finding her cultural identity. The situation is aggravated by her unconventional sexuality. As a result, she has to struggle against conservatism of her family and social environment and overcome barriers on her way to discover her true self and her cultural heritage and background.

References:

Obejas, A. (1994). We Came All The Way From Cuba So You Could Dress Like This?

Costa, M.D. (2003).  Latina Lesbian Writers and Performers, Journal of Lesbian Studies. 7 (3), 5–27.

Textor, L. (October 11, 2006), “A Cuban American writer on her identity”, The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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