How we cite our quotes: ("Abbreviated chapter name," page)
Quote #1
"The yanquis, rumors go, have ringed the island with nuclear poison, hoping to starve the people and incite a counterrevolution. They will drop germ bombs to wither the sugarcane fields, blacken the rivers, blind horses and pigs. Celia studies the coconut palms lining the beach. Could they be blinking signals to an invisible enemy?" ("Ocean Blue" 3-4)
The opening of this book may have you questioning just how reliable Celia's point of view will be in the coming pages. Is she delusional? Or has she just accepted the conditioning of the State? Perhaps the complicit coconut trees is just one step too far...
Quote #2
"The muscles in her right eye have been weak since she was a child, and every so often the eye drifts to one side, giving her a vaguely cyclopean air. It doesn't diminish her 20/20 vision, only skews it a bit." ("Going South" 17)
Lourdes prefers to think of her lazy eye as a super power, giving her the ability to take in more than the average Cuban mother. Pilar sees it as a weakness, the portal for every crazy political theory and prejudice to walk through.
Quote #3
"He took pride in never walking barefoot, even in his own home, and shuffled around in highly polished leather slippers to protect himself from microbios. The very word lit a fire in his eyes. 'They are the enemy!' he used to bellow. 'Culprits of tropical squalor!'" ("Going South," 21)
Much like Lourdes, Jorge sees Cuba as a dangerous place full of molecular predators and unsympathetic people. For Jorge, the danger gets down to the cellular level. After reading about the state of their refrigerator ("a bulk of rust") and seeing all the animal sacrifice, we can't help but side with Jorge on the microbios.