The Memory of Silence and Lucy: A Detailed Analysis

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Introduction

The book titled Memory of Silence and written by Uva De Aragon tells the readers a touching story of two sisters who were separated because of the Cuban Revolution that broke out unexpectedly and affected the lives of many Cubans. The main characters of the story are Menchu and Lauri, twin sisters with a common past that is divided by their present life choices, as Menchu remains in Cuba, and Lauri leaves for Miami. Despite the fact that Lauri and Menchu did not talk to each other for the next forty years, they shared identical values and secrets. Throughout the Memory of Silence, De Aragon describes the lives of both sisters and shows that sometimes, reconciling may be painful but still a much better option than remaining silent for a long time.

As for Lucy, it was written by Jamaica Kincaid, and it contained a great deal of autobiographical information. Lucy, the main character of the story, leaves Antigua for the United States in search of a better life. She becomes an au pair but quickly starts longing after her hometown and her family because she had never left her mother. Despite the presence of unresolved feelings related to her interpersonal relationships, Lucy is willing to grow both personally and professionally. At the end of the day, Kincaid portrays a rather cynical and close-to-life transition from childhood to middle age, with all of its struggles and challenges.

Differences: The Theme of Sibling Relationships in Memory of Silence

Even though both Lucy and Memory of Silence contain a great deal of family-related content, the theme of family is addressed in De Aragon’s novel in richer detail. The commonalities and differences characteristic of the two sisters represent an allusion to the Cuban Revolution and how the common past of close relatives could be divided by unprecedented events. The mutual sense of rejection and betrayal that follows the split is what moves the theme of sibling conflict forward and creates more than just a physical restraint caused by Lauri’s relocation to Miami (De Aragon 58). The silence that both sisters keep afterward is what De Aragon utilizes to reinforce the idea that the feelings of abandonment and emptiness cannot be replaced by anything else rather than communication and reconciliation. Nevertheless, twin sisters do not care about reconciliation for at least forty years despite similar achievements. Throughout the novel, Lauri and Menchu long for each other, but the voices of their memories speak louder than their willingness to overcome pride and settle.

The circumstances that each of the sisters has to go through represent the complex way of coming to a realization that nothing matters except for the close ones – regardless of how distant they could have become over the years. Lauri and Menchu wanted to know more about each other, meaning that they were interested in studying their inner selves. De Aragon allegorically touches upon Cuba’s past and turns it into a story about twin sisters who decided to stay in silence instead of speaking up and discussing their differences. The siblings are not two separate characters, but rather two parts of a greater whole who were artificially alienated with the help of a marine “iron curtain” (De Aragon 199). The author of Memory of Silence manages to highlight the differences of the Cuban “twins” – the Cuban diaspora and the islanders – while also unfolding the idea that the relationship between these alleged sisters would never be damaged by distance, separation, or any other restraint.

Differences: The Theme of Going in Circles in Lucy

One of the topics that do not get replicated in Memory of Silence is Kincaid’s willingness to show how one’s attempts to change might lead to ultimately reaching the landing strip that they tried to reject when first stepping on the path of transformation. Lucy never thought she would meet any challenges after leaving the hometown spot that made her feel bad for the United States, a perceived fairyland that she expected to become her second home. Nevertheless, the numerous challenges of relocation and the status of an immigrant brought even more sources of discontent to the table, forcing Lucy to start dreaming of coming back to the native island that she wanted to escape so much (Kincaid 90). The cyclical journey reinforced by Kincaid is what makes Lucy’s struggles evident and discloses the fact that what goes around comes around.

Sitting in her new apartment, so grown and developed, Lucy realized that she is most likely unable to display affection and true love because of her past experiences and all the pain that she had to take. Even though there were enough signs proving that Lucy’s journey is appealingly recurring by nature, Kincaid specifically mentions that the “journey” starts and ends in January. In addition to the larger cycle related to how Lucy had to persevere her first year in the United States on her own, there are also quite a few smaller phases that she goes through in order to become an adult (Kincaid 47). From damaging relationships to her hope to come back to the native land, Lucy has all kinds of issues to address, but the bigger issue is that Lucy’s progress is cyclical, and she has to come back to her initial state at the end of the journey. The main character’s hard work did not really pay off because Lucy never had the opportunity to understand that the true meaning of happiness had always been inside her and had nothing to do with men, love, or jobs.

Similarities: The Theme of Intrafamilial Relationships in Lucy and Memory of Silence

Even though the story describes Lucy’s mother as being not physically present in the main character’s life, Lucy still tends to think of her mother in ways that cause a whole palette of emotions ranging from repentance and longing to hatred and antagonism. The story shows how young Lucy becomes an adult and gains more experience while also looking back at her mother, which is the best way to reiterate the incredible strength of the bond between mothers and daughters (Kincaid 30). The connection between the main character and her mother was so strong that Lucy tended to believe, at one time, that she was an extension of her mother and not just the daughter. Therefore, the tensions between Lucy and her mother stand as the key source of motivation for Lucy to resent her mother’s feelings and separate them by moving to the United States. Nevertheless, it is essential for the main character to achieve adulthood, so she decides to break with her mother to become stronger.

As for the intrafamilial relations in Memory of Silence, De Aragon places emphasis on the topic of reconciliation, but there is also the theme of how often opposing views create obstacles for the close ones and avert them from overcoming mere ideological differences to remain as close as they had always been. For the author, the key idea is that Lauri and Menchu have to forgive and forget in order to move forward, as there cannot be love without compromises that affect both sides. The lack of empathy divides the twin sisters and makes them question if any of them is worth tolerance, but the core value for a family should be understanding and not the ability to forgive (De Aragon 255). For the author of the book, it is evident that sisters are going to reconcile at the end, but the paths that they should take on the way to reuniting presuppose a great deal of emotional power.

Similarities: The Themes of Culture and Perception in Memory of Silence and Lucy

Another important topic that is discussed in De Aragon’s Memory of Silence is the presence of cultural questions that touch upon the importance of diaspora and its relations with the local population. The author puts it as the problem of perception because it was not easier for immigrants to settle somewhere outside of Cuba than it was for Cubans to put up with the challenges of their homeland. With at least one of the twins leaving Cuba, the readers get a chance to follow the process of a person’s identity evolving, as Lauri becomes much more Americanized over time without even realizing it. This gradual shift shall be embraced and nurtured in order to protect the locals’ sense of self and avert them from giving up on their values and aspirations. That was the main reason why Lauri had trouble remembering if Cuba was a dream or just a mere recall from her past (De Aragon 175). The sense of isolation experienced by Lauri after her divorce is what makes her wonder if she perceived the United States as the right place for her to settle and whether the relocation was a reasonable move at all.

In terms of culture and perception, Lucy raises similar concerns because Kincaid manages to showcase the issues that one might meet along the way if their background and worldviews were different from those of the people around them. The main character has an unalike attitude toward the beauty of certain flowerets because of her memories of colonial injustice. After relocating, Lucy faces a culture of division between the whites and blacks and also sees how people around her tend to place their desires over everything else. With Lucy’s Caribbean native land being more than just a place for recreation for many wealthy Americans, the main character does not realize how her disappointments could be aligned against the cost that one should pay to achieve the freedom that many Americans, especially white, take for granted (Kincaid 80). The difference in perceptions, therefore, arises from the fact that Lucy grew up within an unalike culture where experiences were much more mixed than in America.

Conclusion

One of the best elements of Lucy is that Kincaid mostly writes it in first-person, which makes it easier to follow the development path of the main character and ultimately draw parallels between one’s self and Lucy. The gradual emotional separation that is unveiled throughout the plot is what makes this book stand out so much among other similar novels. Kincaid tells the readers a story of how one should always keep their homegrown experiences alive and never forget their family. The unjust and restrictive situations that Lucy has to persevere set the stage for her to become a financially independent woman who only relies on herself. As Lucy is mostly an autobiographical entry, it is easy for the readers to associate themselves with the main character. The majority of external events represent a shiny cover that unveils the inner changes that slowly occur in Lucy throughout the novel. The ability to leave one’s old self behind and start a new life is what Kincaid highlights as the key to a liberated, conscious life.

Nevertheless, the dynamics of Memory of Silence are also extremely moving because of a strong emphasis on how one should never forget where they came from and how they turned into their today’s version. The idea is that the feeling of nostalgia should not be either feared or kicked away: instead, it should be seen as a helping hand when a person is trying to overcome certain challenges related to their past. The lack of forgiveness is what makes many individuals suffer because they cannot reach the therapeutic catharsis of letting go of a situation that damaged them. According to the accepted wisdom presented by De Aragon, Memory of Silence is a story about willpower and the necessity to leave pessimistic outlooks behind in order to live freely. A strong association with the Cuban Revolution is what made the book read and feel natural, leaving the audience touched by the damaging effects of personal metamorphoses that many of us choose to detest instead of embracing. With both sisters reconciling and rediscovering their past, the Memory of Silence ends on a high note and proves that it is never too late to display humility and affection when it comes to family.

References

De Aragon, Uva, et al. The Memory of Silence. Cubanabooks, 2014.

Kincaid, Jamaica. Lucy: A Novel. Macmillan, 1990.

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