Olofes Razor in The Lucumi Religion
In order to understand this work better, it is important to have a
bit of background information. This story between a man and a
woman, a mother and her son, takes place in Cuba in the early to mid
nineteen hundreds at a time of carnival. They are both mulattos. For
the Afro-Cubans, and other Cubans alike, this time of carnival is a time
of worship and praise. In the Afro-Cuban religion of Lucumi, or
Santeria, the gods are worshipped and praised especially at this time
of carnival.
The Lucumi religion is a hybrid religion: a mixture of West
African religion and Catholicism. It came about as the African slaves in
Cuba were forced to practice Catholicism. In order to keep their own
African religion, they masked their gods with the names of the Catholic
saints in order to appear as if they were indeed practicing Catholicism
and after years of practicing both religions side by side, Santeria
evolved. There are several aspects of this religion present and
important to “Olofe’s Razor.” There are four gods mentioned in the
play, Yemanya, Chango, Ochun and Olofe. There is also trance like
possession and song, dance and rhythm in worship and praise of the
gods. I will continue by first explaining these elements themselves
and then will go on to explain their relevance to the story.
The second god referred to in the play is Yemanya (Our lady of
Regla). One of the chants they sing begins with the phrase, “Ocule
Maya,”1 which is used in Cuba to greet the goddess Yemaya. It
means, “Hail Yemanya.” She is a very beautiful ocean goddess and is
associated with the moon, but more importantly she is the god of
fertility and brings young women to womanhood. This is very
important because she is referred to by the young man when he
speaks of going out into the carnival to be with the young ladies and
the mother also refers to her when she speaks of the same subject
and also when she speaks of coming into womanhood herself.
Yemanya is also referred to when the mother and son speak of the
possibility of his fathering children. Yemanya is also the mother of
Chango.
Chango (St. Barbara) is the first god mentioned in the play. He
is the god of power. Chango also loves women, food, dancing and all
things that are exciting which is why he is present at the time of
carnival. The mother says, “Santiago’s jumping tonight.
In the story, set in the 1960’s, Anita lives in the Dominican Republic, a country with a dictator named el jefe. One day at school, Anita’s cousin is called out of class, and Anita is asked to go with. She finds out that her cousin is leaving for the United States with her family. From there, Anita’s life becomes pretty complicated. Her entire family lives on a compound, each with their own house. With her cousin’s family leaving, her house is the only occupied one left. Everyone has either moved to the U.S. or is missing. Her father tells her they will
The investigation identifies the motivating factors that drove Cuban parents to send their children unaccompanied to the United States between 1960 and 1962 in an event known today as Operation Pedro Pan. In addition, the investigation evaluates the parents’ actions and the risks associated with separating children from their families in the midst of political instability in order to determine whether the parents’ choice was justified. To do this, two primary source journals, one written by the founder of the operation, as well as multiple first hand recollections from Pedro Pan children are utilized. In addition, a number of historical articles and books published in the years following Operation Pedro Pan are used to learn of the controversy surrounding the event and to gain an understanding of the situation in Cuba during Fidel Castro’s regime.
Bohlen, Celestine. "The Pope In Cuba: The Two Men; Pope Captivates His Marxist Host." The New York Times. 26 Jan. (1998): A9.
“Cuba - A Case of Communist Take-Over.” The New York Times Magazine July 1961: 59-64 Guido, Jessica.
The Dominican Republic was not a very good place to live in during the 1950s. Dictator Rafael Leonid, better known as Trujillo made an effort to associate the country with white Americans in 1939. This caused a generation of Dominicans to hate the nearby Haitians. He banned many traditional rituals and deplored the Haitian people by rewriting history with Haitians being the villains. Eventually, in 1959, Trujillo blamed Cuban dictator Fidel Castro for the Dominican discontent and was assassinated (Bailey). Julia Alvarez’s poem “Exile” is about a girl and her father’s departure from the Dominican Republic to New York, most likely as a reaction to the political uproar in their home country. In “Exile”, Alvarez uses a flashback, characterization, and symbolism to show the internal conflict of a young girl experiencing the American dream while losing her old behaviors.
For the rest of the people still in Cuba, life was and still is not easy. The everyday necessities are not always available and their technology is not that advanced. in fact, it is
People come from different backgrounds which mean they will celebrate holidays differently even though they might be of the same religion. The world is huge has a variety of people whom speak many different languages and have different styles, which is why it is a good reason to keep an open mind to learn something new. David Sedaris is a well-known comedian writer who by some calls him the funniest writer alive. He has also written many best sellers such as Naked and Talk pretty to me. Jesus Shaves is a short story by Sedaris in which cultures cross between students in a French class. The Students come from different backgrounds even though a lot of them share the same religion they practice it differently. There are a lot of elements in Jesus
In the novel “Cuban Color in Tourism and La Lucha” the author and anthropologist L. Kaifa Roland describes her journey in Cuba and the different people she encounter with that describe to her the life of a citizen in Cuba. Throughout her stay in Cuba, Roland describes the different situations people go through in Cuba economically and gender wise. She also mainly describes “La Lucha” which in the book is identified as the struggle people face and go through every day in order to get by in Cuba economically. However, the thing that caught my attention the most in the book was how women get mistreated and seen by people differently. Through my paper I am going to be discussing how women in Cuba get discriminated not just by their color or where
The. Kincaid, Jamaica. The autobiography of my mother. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1996.
The relationships between mothers and daughters is a topic that authors often call upon to tell a story. It is an important part of every culture, which makes the topic relatable to any reader who picks the book up. Junot Diaz understood the universality of mother/daughter relationships and incorporated it in his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Although the book is mainly about Oscar, an overweight Dominican boy from New Jersey and his quest for love, the book also spends a lot of time exploring the relationships between Oscar’s sister Lola and their mother Beli and Beli’s relationship with her mother figure La Inca. Junot Diaz does not write mother/daughter relationships in an honest way and focuses on the conflict in the relationships
Case 9A in the textbook Media Ethics by Philip Patterson and Lee Wilkins (2008) on page 213 provides the following information. Elizabeth Brotons Rodriquez and fourteen other Cuban natives were in hope of immigrating to the United States in hope of escaping the Castro Government. Elizabeth took her son a long with her for the dangerous journey in attempt of freedom without telling her son’s father that she was setting sea. Elizabeth and ten others on the voyage drowned to death before the fishermen found the three
The film “Camila” was produced in 1984 and directed by Maria Luisa Bemberg (1922-1955). Based on the true story of Camila O’Gorman, an Argentine woman who falls in love with a priest in 1840’s Buenos Aires, this story dealt with the terrifying reign of Juan Manuel de Rosas. Camila is from an influential family and is betrothed to a Rosas loyalist. She is passionate and daring, just like her grandmother, and reads books that have been censored by the ruthless Rosas. When she falls in love with Father Ladislao, the two flee Buenos Aires and assume new identities as school teachers in a small village. During a party, a priest from Ladislao’s old church recognizes Ladislao and turns them both in. They are both executed by firing squad even though Camila is pregnant.
Zill de Granados, Oriana. Nuestra Familia: Our Family. Center for Investigative Reporting and Latino Public Broadcasting, Sep. 2006. Web. http://nuestrafamiliaourfamily.org/pages/film.html
Rodriguez’s mother is left in a state of misery and isolation after her family leaves her. Left in Cuba without her children, Rodriguez’s mother has only her mother and husband. However, she suddenly finds a kitchen towel “smeared with another woman’s lipstick” and quickly
History proves that as Buddhism spread throughout the Asian world in the early 1st century, it was occasionally altered to fit the specific needs and beliefs of people it touched. Mahayana Buddhism is one such example of this gradual evolution. It was primarily a movement started and kept alive by monks that slowly gained popularity amongst lay people but was in no way a unified movement. Mahayana Buddhism still adheres to the basic fundamental beliefs presented in the Pali Canons, however, it Sutras often expand upon these basic ideas and traditions in order to answer the questions of a later generation. After closer study of the Mahayana texts the “A Sutra for Long Life” and “The World Universe as a Sutra”, it seems evident that, although Mahayana Buddhism is based on the teachings of the traditional Pali Canon, it places a larger emphasis on philosophical inquires; and ultimately creates a more accessible version of enlightenment, and the Buddhist faith in general, for all.