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The Cuban Swimmer

 

            
             Millions of immigrants flee to this county in search of the American "dream." Whether that dream is success, wealth or happiness, it is the dream for something better than the life they have now. The play "The Cuban Swimmer" is an interesting allegory of the immigrant experience in America. Each character represents a different generation and perspective on the immigrant experience and its pressures. .
             Eduardo and his wife Aida fled Cuba to come to America in search of their own American dream. Together they had two children, Simon and Margarita. They are a very close knit family, even the grandmother lives with them. Sanchez uses her own personal background here because like most immigrant families many generations often live together. The family travels together on the boat to support Margarita as she swims the marathon to Catalina. The relationship between the father, Eduardo, and his daughter, Margarita, is the one I find most important. Eduardo is Margarita's coach, her mentor. He is the one who pushes Margarita to give it her all throughout the whole race. Like most parents he appears to want what is best for his daughter, he wants her to succeed. The question is at what cost. As we learn in the play, Eduardo is not a swimmer himself, yet he is his daughters coach. One must ask the question that maybe it was a dream of Eduardo's to be a swimmer yet for some reason he failed and is now trying to live vicariously through his daughter. He pushes her very hard. As demonstrated in the scene with the oil spill, Eduardo, although concerned for his daughters well being, he lets her stay in the water and urges her to swim. This may be symbolic of the obstacles immigrants must overcome to achieve their goals. It seems as if Eduardo feared failure, especially since the media was watching which in turn meant that the world was watching. Had he taken Margarita out of the water she would have been disqualified from the race, thereby making him look like a failure as a coach, and maybe even as a father, in front of the rest of his family and the people watching on television.


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