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Anna in the Tropics

Literature has the power to affect even the humblest of lives. Anna in the Tropics

presents the story of a family of Cuban cigar rollers whose lives in the 1920s Florida are

brightened up and disturbed at the same time by a stranger, a lector, who reads aloud about

the passions of Tolstoy and his heroine Anna Karenina. It is common practice for employees

at the factory run by this Cuban family to be entertained by as they carry out the mundane

chores at hand – those of rolling of cigars and sorting tobacco leaves. But as those in the

factory begin to get caught up in Tolstoy’s classic, willingly or not, the book begins to work

subtle and profound changes in their emotional lives. This essay will analyze the themes

covered in Anna in the Tropics, even as it seeks to explore the various ways in which the

play’s characters are affected as the lector reads to them – along with their fellow workers, to

educate and stimulate their minds in the course of the doldrums of their repetitive tasks.

One of the very first things to note in this story is how certain tensions between old

traditions and new ways are reflected. The factory workers, for instance, are threatened by

new, mechanical cigar rolling machines because they themselves roll cigars by hand, which is

the traditional way (Cruz 19). It is not just the workers whose future is uncertain, however.

Even the very tradition of the lector, who reads out loud to the cigar rollers so that any tedium

in the factory may be broken, while at the same time facilitating the ease of passing time, is at

risk (Cruz 8). Since listening to the lector is often the closest thing to a formal education that

cigar-rollers might experience, the ending of this tradition, in particular, could signify the

demise of an informal method of learning (Aiello).

The significance of the lector is not only about giving factory workers some

semblance of an informal education, however, but it is also reflective of the theme of Cuban

heritage that is present throughout the play. The Cuban culture and traditions comprise a key

theme because first, the play is set within the Cuban American community which is living in

Ybor City in Tampa, Florida (Cruz 2). Second, it is apparent that Cuban Americans prefer to

stay within their own cultural community whenever they can help it, which explains how they

have been able to keep their old traditions. Their cigar-rolling factory, for instance, is not run

in the same fashion that American companies are, what with a lector being availed to

entertain the workers – as demanded by Cuban traditions (Cruz 9). The characters in this

story are defined and destroyed against the standard of Cuban heritage.

As the play begins, the previous lector has just died of old age, and some women

anxiously await the arrival of his replacement while the men pass time and gamble their

money at the cockfights. Juan Julian, the new lector, arrives with the novel Anna Karenina in

hand, a classic Russian novel that serves to awaken the women’s sexuality while inflaming

the men’s jealousy (Schwartz). With awakened sexuality comes the theme of infidelity,

showcased by the fact that quite a bit of the character in the novel seems to be carrying on

with affairs. Palomo, for instance, carries on as if he were unmarried, and his wife Conchita

soon follows suit, taking for herself the lector Juan Julian who embodies the sensitivity and

passionate temperament she so desires from her own husband (Cruz). It appears that the

choice by Julian to read Anna Karenina causes his audience to imitate the various scandals

illustrated in the novel, thus leading to the wreaking of havoc on the working families, and

the challenging of family ties and values. It is this same infidelity that catalyzes the

downward spiral that the lives of the play’s characters take, leading, ultimately, to Julian’s

death.

But even as some of these characters engage in wanton infidelity, the next major

theme that stands out is the manner in which men’s and women’s affairs are viewed in this

society. Chauvinism is alive and very well, as demonstrated by how Palomo does not think it

to be of any consequence, keeping a mistress for himself. He is, however, horrified by the

very thought of his wife taking a lover for herself. In this society, then, there appear to be

different rules about what is acceptable for men and women, thus belying its chauvinistic

nature. There is wide acceptance of the fact that men can be involved with women outside of

their marriages. When Conchita tells Palomo that she too will be taking a lover as he has

done, he becomes annoyed and claims that he would rather they divorced (Cruz 16). The

rules at play in this Cuban society, then, are those that are firmly rooted in machismo – some

of which end up bringing tragedy in no small measure by the play’s end (Aiello).

It is this unhinged male aggression, brought about by the crucial theme that is

jealousy, which sees the cuckolded Cheche brandish the fateful pistol and dispatch Julian into

the afterlife for seducing the very niece that Cheche has been making the moves on (Cruz 40).

It is not just Cheche who chokes with envy, but Santiago and Palomo too, as they envision

how the characters in Anna Karenina manage to enrapture their wives. The Cuban women, on

their part, are jealous of Julian’s characters in the Russian classic he reads, for these women

have passion and dreams. The women in the family, after all, lead such dull lives that they

can hardly handle any excitement. Marcela illustrates this point beautifully when she wets

herself, grown woman as she is, upon seeing Julian since she is quite unaccustomed to seeing

new and exciting people (Cruz 8).

Anna in the Tropics is a stimulating play which beautifully illustrates how a small

Cuban community is affected by literature. As their lector reads for them the adventures of

Tolstoy and Anna, the characters are affected in various ways, as jealousies are aroused, a

struggle with chauvinism ensues, infidelities abound, and the traditions of old Cuba make war

with the advancement of the times. In the end, all of the play’s characters are profoundly

affected by the reading of Anna Karenina, even as they draw parallels between themselves

and the characters in that book. Anna in the Tropics, then, does a remarkable job of

demonstrating the themes and place of literature, tradition versus change, the male

perspective versus the female perspective, Cuban heritage, infidelity, jealousy, and at the very

end as Palomo takes over the reading of the story where the lector had left off before he was

killed, love.

Works Cited

Aiello, Stephen E. "The Tragedy of Becoming: Hegel in Cruz’s Anna in the Tropics." Journal

of Arts & Humanities, vol. 5, no. 1, 2016, doi:10.18533/journal.v5i1.892.

Cruz, Nilo. Anna in the Tropics. Theatre Communications Group, 2003,

www.york.cuny.edu/Members/tamrhein/Anna%20Script%20and%20Notes.pdf.

Schwartz, Jonas. "Anna in the Tropics." Reviews, Theater Mania, 7 Oct. 2003,

www.theatermania.com/los-angeles-theater/reviews/anna-in-the-tropics_3964.html.