The essay ‘The joyful sixties in Latin American Literature’ is written by Reinaldo while he is political imprisonment. His writings are based on the lives of people who had been imprisoned and are shaped by his own life experiences. His body of art indicates the animosity that existed in the Cuban government. Arguing from his biography, it is vital to understand that Reinold and the people of Cuba were infringed their rights to freedom of speech (Reinaldo). For instance, he was arrested from publishing his books abroad without the official consent of the government.
His art depicted the atrocities that the government was doing to the citizens. He is however, convicted for exposing failures of the government. His experiences bring a realistic narrative and highly modernized prose that is filled with a lot of satire. He draws from his experience a connection between his own life before prison, in prison and the fates of the protagonists. His life is a standard of all other Cuban generations as he uses it to criticize the Castro government and Catholic community (Reinaldo). Reinaldo presents to us a small boy who is born and raised by a single mother in a place called Oriente. They later move from this town to Holguin where the boy is enrolled in a school. As the title of the essay suggests, in the sixties Reinold begins an exploration of his ambitions. He maximizes his prowess in writing as well as utilizing his sexuality. He makes friendship with other gays who did not shudder to openly identify themselves. He realizes who he really is and what he wants in life. At this time, he enjoys life because the political climate of Cuba is still calm. He is at the top of his joy and quenching his thirst for happiness. He gains self-esteem from self-actualization and opts to start writing on behalf of the gay society (Reinaldo 83). His work receives positive feedback from the society as he convinces people to believe that even gays deserve a place in the community. It is at this time when he also wrote his novel the Hallucinations. Hallucination managed to be published abroad and get international attention. He uses magic realism in his stories to depict how he lived a double life at the same time. Therefore, this essay leads us to the question at hand, how is this narration relevant in supporting the fact that Cubans were not freely granted their rights by the government (Reinaldo 174).
Arguing from ‘The joyful sixties in Latin American Literature’ essay, it is true to say that Cubans fought for a world that only existed in their hopes. People are alienated and infuriated by the ideological divisions between America and Cuba. The government is harsh on minority groups and becomes increasingly dangerous (Reinaldo 42). For instance, gays are being arrested for allegations of sexual assault of minorities and publishing abroad without consent of the government. On the other hand, before the intensity of government heightened and things became harsh on the minority, Reinaldo argues that they lived a good life. At the time he was producing this essay, he was cherishing life at his best. He wrote what he thought and did anything without answering to anyone (Reinaldo 34). It is then that he realizes his various potential and understands why there is a need for a paradigm shift in some political ideologies. Unfortunately, he ends up in jail and imprisoned with thugs and murders. The circumstances around him show how certain minority groups were treated harshly and deprived of their rights. This story is an irony of the life he later lived on when he was jailed. The role of writing in this situation has been used as a tool to demonstrate against the atrocities of the Cuban government.
Work Cited
Arenas, Reinaldo. Mona and Other Tales. New York: Vintage Books, 2013. Print.
