An important location in the novel was at the shoreline of Santa Teresa del Mar in Cuba, where Celia del Pino lived. This location was the reoccurring focal point of the whole novel, no matter which point of view the story was told from, it always came back to this house in Santa Teresa del Mar. If I was to have the opportunity to visit this place, I would absolutely. Celia’s house was facing the ocean; Celia would imagine seeing the Florida Keys only 90 miles away. In the novel Cuba went through their revolution. Cuba in the novel is described as to be “frozen in time.” The house where Celia del Pino lived before the gigantic tidal wave struck was elegant and white with a mahogany piano. After the tidal wave, the house was somewhat destroyed,
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Through Celia, Cristina Garcia made the ocean a reoccurring motif. Celia was given a reading by a santerÍa priest and he saw a wet landscape in her palm, this is ironic because Celia died in the ocean. Celia is given comfort by the ocean; it relaxes her and welcomes her, which is why she also dies there. Later in the novel, the ocean turns into an evil creature that takes away the people Celia loves. Celia was always constantly looking into the ocean. Celia would sit in her wicker swing every day, in a deep gaze. Another prominent, reoccurring motif in the novel is Celia’s drop pearl earrings. Celia’s children and grandchildren have never seen her without her pearl earrings. Those earrings were given to Celia by her previous lover, a Spaniard named Gustavo Sierra de Armas. Celia’s drop pearl earrings symbolize the past, everything Celia has been through over the years in Cuba. I believe Celia never takes off the earrings because she longs for the past, she does not want to ever let go of the things that had happened. At the end of the novel, Celia is in the ocean and during this she releases her earrings into the ocean, surrendering them and she closes her eyes and drifts away. This novel included many motifs and symbols, but they all had one thing in common, they all led back to Cuba and Celia which is why everything always tied back to the house at Santa Teresa del
Through Celia, Cristina Garcia made the ocean a reoccurring motif. Celia was given a reading by a santerÍa priest and he saw a wet landscape in her palm, this is ironic because Celia died in the ocean. Celia is given comfort by the ocean; it relaxes her and welcomes her, which is why she also dies there. Later in the novel, the ocean turns into an evil creature that takes away the people Celia loves. Celia was always constantly looking into the ocean. Celia would sit in her wicker swing every day, in a deep gaze. Another prominent, reoccurring motif in the novel is Celia’s drop pearl earrings. Celia’s children and grandchildren have never seen her without her pearl earrings. Those earrings were given to Celia by her previous lover, a Spaniard named Gustavo Sierra de Armas. Celia’s drop pearl earrings symbolize the past, everything Celia has been through over the years in Cuba. I believe Celia never takes off the earrings because she longs for the past, she does not want to ever let go of the things that had happened. At the end of the novel, Celia is in the ocean and during this she releases her earrings into the ocean, surrendering them and she closes her eyes and drifts away. This novel included many motifs and symbols, but they all had one thing in common, they all led back to Cuba and Celia which is why everything always tied back to the house at Santa Teresa del