47 pages • 1 hour read
Chanel CleetonWhen We Left Cuba
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Beatriz Perez
Beatriz Perez is the second-eldest daughter of Emilio and Mrs. Perez. She is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. At the time the main storyline begins, she is 22.
Beatriz is known for being beautiful but slightly scandalous. Her family thinks of her as reckless and impulsive, qualities that led her to become involved in her twin brother Alejandro’s revolutionary activities while the family still lived in Cuba. Beatriz likes to flout convention and act on her desires, preferences exhibited even as a child, when she stole a kiss from Eduardo. As an adult, Beatriz is drawn to Eduardo because they share many personality traits as well as a longing for the life in Cuba that is lost to them.
After leaving Cuba, Beatriz feels restless and unmoored. Her wishes for her own life run counter to the gendered expectations for her future imposed upon her. Working as a spy, even if it means dressing up and using her beauty and allure, makes Beatriz feel powerful. She also enjoys the power of her sexual attraction to Nick Preston. While she knows from the beginning that they don’t have a future together, she chooses to take pleasure in the present and deal with the consequences when they arise. Beatriz’s willfulness around following her own desires puts her in conflict with her father, mother, and sister Isabel. Beatriz has a more supportive and cooperative relationship with her sisters Elisa and Maria, who do not judge her actions.
The loss of her twin brother, Alejandro, has left her full of grief and anger, which initially motivates her need for retaliation against Castro. Over the course of the novel, however, her need for revenge changes to a wish for justice. Whereas in the early chapters she wants to assassinate Castro out of resentment for her past, in the final confrontation, she is fighting to forge a future free of Castro’s influence.
Nick and Eduardo represent conflicting claims on Beatriz’s loyalties that she must resolve over the course of the novel. Eventually, Beatriz rejects a life of protected domesticity with Nick and pursues a life of adventure and independence offered by a career with the CIA. Castro’s death frees Beatriz to finally engage in a romantic relationship with Nick, whom she has continued to love.
Nicholas Preston
Nicholas Preston is an important supporting character, a romantic interest and source of conflict for Beatriz. She thinks of him as a golden boy when she first meets him; he is blonde, handsome, physically fit, and from a powerful family. He serves as a US senator for the Democratic Party. He is 37 and flew planes during the war, though which war is not specified.
Nick is cautious and considers the consequences of his actions carefully, but his strong attraction to Beatriz overcomes his customary reserve. He disapproves of her work for the CIA, however, as he fears it puts her in danger. Nick ends his engagement to his fiancée, Katherine, because he does not love her, but even though he loves Beatriz and is prepared to marry her, he comes to understand that she wants more than being a politician’s wife.
At the end of the novel, Beatriz still finds Nick handsome, distinguished, and gentlemanly. He had a long and accomplished political career and a wife and children but, now a widower, he is free to act on the romantic attraction that still exists between him and Beatriz.
Eduardo Diaz
Eduardo Diaz grew up in Cuba as a friend to the Perez family and was close with Beatriz’s brother, Alejandro. He is very attractive and successful with women. He is a secondary character in the novel who represents and facilitates Beatriz’s continued attachment to Cuba. Eduardo is a pragmatist and an opportunist, but he and Beatriz share many qualities, commitments, and beliefs, and he was her childhood crush. Eduardo is deeply attracted to Beatriz, but realizes that she loves Nick.
Eduardo initiates the link between Beatriz and the CIA. He initially sets her up to be an assassin for Castro and exposes her to certain covert activities. However, he also expresses concern that Beatriz will be harmed by her involvement in espionage, and his outlook changes after he is held prisoner after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Though he still looks out for himself, he is more willing to compromise on his beliefs, which Beatriz is not.
Eduardo is the one who misleads Beatriz in the end about the nature of her meeting with Castro, which he has arranged. When he shoots Javier to save her life, Eduardo frees Beatriz to return to Florida, claim Palm Beach as her home, and pursue the life she wants. Choosing to stay in Cuba, even with compromised freedoms and deep changes to the country, Eduardo represents the lost life in Cuba that Beatriz no longer wants for herself. Though losing Eduardo along with Nick is the price Beatriz pays for her independence, they remain friends, as indicated when Eduardo calls Beatriz on the occasion of Castro’s death.
Dwyer
Dwyer is a secondary character in the novel and the avenue offering Beatriz the opportunities and independence that she longs for. He is described as a taciturn man who is observant, reserved, and trusts no one. Beatriz, however, always believes that he is being honest with her. Beatriz is impressed when Dwyer reveals his motivations for what he does:
Because I like it. Because I’m good at it. Because I believe everyone has a purpose to their life and this is mine. Because sometimes we do win, even if we lose a fair share, too. There’s always another fight. Another problem to solve. Another country to fix (332).
Beatriz is interested in the challenge of being a spy and adopts this philosophy for herself. Dwyer represents her link to the life that Beatriz wants and can claim only once she adopts the US as her home.
