Dreaming in Cuban - Important Characters

Important Characters

• Celia del Pino: She is the matriarch of the del Pino family: wife to Jorge; mother to Lourdes, Felicia, and Javier; grandmother to Pilar, Luz, Milagro, Ivanito and Irinita. She is a strong supporter of the revolution, socialism, and El Líder. She is a romantic, taking pleasure in piano music and poetry. She shares a connection with her granddaughter Pilar.

• Jorge del Pino: He is the patriarch of the del Pino family: husband to Celia; father to Lourdes, Felicia, and Javier; grandfather to Pilar, Luz, Milagro, and Ivanito. He is a supporter of the U.S., working for an American company and turning to America for treatment when he becomes ill. He is particularly close to his daughter Lourdes.

• Lourdes Puente: Lourdes is the eldest child of Celia and Jorge, the wife of Rufino, and the mother of Pilar. After beginning her exile in the U.S., Lourdes becomes an entrepreneur, owning her own bakery. She is a strong supporter of capitalism and U.S. patriotism, and she despises El Líder and what he has done to Cuba. She is invasive of Pilar’s privacy, and she does not understand her daughter.

• Rufino Puente: Rufino is husband of Lourdes and the father of Pilar. In Cuba, he was a wealthy but humble rancher, but in the U.S., he is removed from his element. He perpetually begins various projects and inventions without economic success. He is close to Pilar.

• Pilar Puente: Pilar is the daughter of Lourdes and Rufino, and the granddaughter of Celia and Jorge. She is an artist and a stereotypical punk teenager. Images and music are important to Pilar. She longs to return to Cuba to see her grandmother, but her political feelings are more ambivalent than those of her mother and grandmother. She is close to her father, and she shares a connection with her grandmother.

• Felicia del Pino: Felicia, is a sweet person with kind eyes and a huge heart, is the second child of Celia and Jorge. She marries three times over the course of the novel, to the following men: Hugo Villaverde, Ernesto Brito, and Otto Cruz. Her three children—Luz, Milagro, and Ivanito—are the product of her marriage to Hugo Villaverde. Her best friend is Herminia Delgado. She has sporadic periods of mental illness. She is politically apathetic, but she strongly embraces santería, eventually becoming a priestess.

• Herminia Delgado: Herminia is the best friend of Felicia del Pino. She is the daughter of a high priest of santería and helps guide Felicia to the religion.

• Luz and Milagro Villaverde: Luz and Milagro are the twin daughters of Felicia and Hugo Villaverde, and they are the granddaughters of Celia and Jorge. They resent their mother due to her madness, and they secretly slip away to visit their father. They are closer to each other than they are to anyone else, and Luz generally speaks for the pair.

• Ivanito Villaverde: Ivanito is the youngest child of Felicia and Hugo Villaverde, and grandson of Celia and Jorge. He is extremely close to his mother, embracing her and accepting her strange ways until she attempts to kill him and later disappears. In her absence, he becomes quite lonely.

• Javier del Pino: Javier is the third child of Celia and Jorge. He is closer to his mother, sharing her support for the revolution, socialism, and El Líder. His father is quite hard on him, and this eventually causes him to run off to Czechoslovakia in secret.