In Cuba I was a German Shepherd, Essay Example

In Cuba I was a German Shepherd is a collection of short stories written by Ana Menendez. The stories portray very moving stories about different men and women who live in either Havana or the United States. The setting of these stories was all during Castro’s time in Cuba, which was a hard time for a lot of people. The stories concentrated on very different individuals; there were stories of the young, and stories of the old. Some of the stories had hints of memories of Cuba when it was still peaceful. Zoetrope is a story of a man named Maximo; a small and fun-loving man who dealt what life threw at him through humor.

Zoetrope is about the lives of Maximo and Raul, as they tried to make a decent living in the United States after the revolution. It came as a wonder to me how Menendez thought to write these stories which were almost similar – all about post-revolution effects on Cubans – and after doing some research, I found that Menendez came from a family who was exiled from Cuba during the Revolution, Fidel Castro’s time.

The story was not something which revolved around some extravagant event – there were just a few men gathered around a table playing dominoes. Even though Raul and Maximo were in America, they were still very inclined to Cuban tradition. However, they were conscious about fitting in, as I gathered from the anecdote Maximo had told about the dog, Juanito, and how he was told to speak in English because he was in America.

The story is about Maximo, and how he sees himself in America. He clearly missed his life in Cuba, yet does not directly say it. The story was reminiscent of Maximo’s life in Cuba, and even the fact that he was playing dominoes showed that he was still holding on to his past.