The Red Umbrella

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2010

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-20

Chapters 21-24

Chapters 25-29

Chapters 30-33

Chapters 34-37

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 34-37Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 34 Summary: “Castro Urges More Intense Communist Spirit for Cubans; Says the Young Will Live Under Communism —Moberly Monitor Index, March 14, 1962”

Spring is arriving, and Jennifer and Lucia are researching bird types to complete a school project about migration. Grand Island holds a yearly festival to celebrate the migration, and Lucia wants to select a special type of bird. Jennifer and Lucia giggle in the library and discuss the freshman spring dance. Lucia imagines dancing with Eddie and thinks about how she doesn’t “want what happened with Manuel to repeat itself” (315). In the last few minutes before Jennifer’s mother picks them up, Lucia discovers a picture of a white heron, and “the book showed how some herons had migration routes that crossed through Cuba and Nebraska” (316). Lucia decides the white heron is the perfect bird since it represents both her homeland and her home with the Baxters; it is a bridge between the two worlds.

When Lucia gets home, she finds the table has been nicely set. Mrs. Baxter explains that Mr. Baxter has been cleared to go back to farming, and they are all in the mood to celebrate. When Mr. Baxter gets home, he gives Lucia a letter from Ivette, but Lucia puts it away until after dinner. When she opens it, the letter is full of propaganda and misinformation about the US. Ivette says that if Lucia’s parents leave Cuba to join her and Frankie in the US, then they are all “no better than all the other gusanos who’ve abandoned their homeland” (320). Though the words hurt Lucia, she responds with one final letter telling Ivette that she is wrong about the US and the revolution. Lucia writes that she has “found friends, happiness, and something she could never have with the revolution…freedom” (321). As she mails the envelope, Lucia knows that her friendship with Ivette is over, as “it simply couldn’t survive the different choices they were making” (322).

Chapter 35 Summary: “Cuba Readies Propaganda Spectacle—1,183 Prisoners Go on Trial Thursday —San Mateo Times, March 24, 1962”

Lucia meets Jennifer and her friends at the spring dance. They sit on the bleachers and wait for the boys to ask them to dance. Eddie and Nathan, a boy Jennifer likes, approach them. Surprisingly, Eddie asks Jennifer to dance and then cleverly says, “Nathan, why don’t you dance this song with Lucia, and we can switch partners afterwards” (327). Eddie and Lucia dance many songs together, and everything goes well until a slow song comes on, making Lucia nervous. Eddie guides her away from the dance floor to get a drink. They share a moment of flirting, but Eddie does not try to take things further, setting Lucia at ease. Lucia admires his face, and “her heart fluttered a little” (330). Eddie and Lucia rejoin their group of friends.

Chapter 36 Summary: “Once-Prosperous Cuba Sinks Under Socialism —Wisconsin State Journal, March 26, 1962”

Lucia is preparing to see a movie with her friends when the phone rings. Mrs. Baxter heads back into the house to answer it. Mama is on the phone, and she says she has been granted a visa, but Papa has not. Lucia convinces her mother to join her and Frankie in Grand Island.

Chapter 37 Summary: “Cuba Slips Away from Exiles Dreams —The Capital, April 2, 1961”

Lucia, Frankie, and the Baxters spent a week preparing a cottage for Lucia, Frankie, and Mama to live in. Now Lucia and Frankie are at the airport with Mrs. Baxter, waiting for Mama’s plane to land Lucia is scared that Mama will not approve of how much she has changed. She wonders what her mother will think about her hair, make up, and friends. Frankie clings to Mrs. Baxter, worried Mama will be upset because he loves Mrs. Baxter. Finally, they hear their mother calling their names, and Frankie and Lucia rush to her side. Mama exclaims that Lucia has “become such a beautiful young woman” and says she is proud of her (342). To everyone’s surprise, Lucia spots a bright red umbrella, and “Papa, looking older and more frail,” approaches them (342). As the family shares a tearful reunion, Lucia feels deep relief now that they are together again.

Author’s Note Summary

Diaz Gonzalez explains that Lucia’s story is a fictional account of very real events that occurred in Cuba from 1960 to 1962. After the Cuban revolution, Castro vowed to retain power at any cost. This included limiting free speech, taking over the newspapers, and indoctrinating the youth. Rumors circulated that Castro intended to remove all children from their homes to be educated in special government schools or to be sent to schools in Russia. This led many parents to take the desperate measure of sending their children to the United States, alone. Gonzalez’s own parents and mother-in-law were “among these children who were not only separated from their families but also from their country and culture” (346). This remains “the largest exodus of unaccompanied children ever in the history of the western hemisphere” (346). Many of the children reunited with their families after months or years, but some never saw their families again. Gonzales explains that not much has been written about these tragic events, and that is why she wrote The Red Umbrella.

Chapter 33-Author’s Note Analysis

The novel continues to investigate how propaganda and indoctrination can lead people to relinquish their personal freedoms. The word gusanos appears again, when Ivette uses it to insult Lucia and her family in her final letter. Ivette calling them traitorous worms is the final breaking point in their friendship. Though Ivette demonstrates strong commitment to the revolution, the fact remains that she is a young girl in an oppressive environment with limited freedoms. Many of the Cuban people fell victim to Castro’s propaganda, including Ivette. During Castro’s revolution, defiance could result in jail, torture, or death. Lucia’s family experienced persecution from friends and family, and it is implied that Papa’s injuries are a result of his reluctance to participate in the revolution. When grown adults struggle to navigate such a tumultuous political landscape, children like Ivette have even fewer choices.

As the story of Lucia and Ivette’s friendship concludes, the novel turns its focus to family. The resolution comes quickly once Lucia and Frankie get the phone call from Mama. When they are finally reunited, Mama does not make any negative or instructive comments about Lucia’s appearance. Rather, she hugs her daughter and says Lucia has “become such a beautiful young lady” (342). In addition to her physical changes, Lucia has learned many valuable life lessons that have led her to become more emotionally mature. She has a profound understanding of how her homeland has been transformed by Castro’s oppressive actions. She understands the value of friendship and the unfortunate truth that some friendships cannot withstand political divides. She has more appreciation for her family and for the people who have cared for her.

The true meaning of home and family is a key question in the novel. Lucia has learned that Cuba is where she was born; it is a part of her, and she has not left it behind despite moving to the US. Yet she also finds a home in Nebraska. Frankie and Lucia love the Baxters, and the Baxters love them in return. As care and affection grow between them, the Baxters become part of Lucia’s family too. Although the revolution took so much from Lucia, by the end of the novel she has reunited with her family, gained new family and friends, and developed a personal ideology that prizes family, freedom, and autonomy.

The white heron embodies these two halves of Lucia’s life. As Lucia says, it is “a bird that lived in both my worlds” (316). Its appearance here is a callback to Chapter 1, when Lucia described a white heron circling above the beach where she was playing with Frankie. It flew away, into the sunset and into the unknown. Chapter 34 makes the parallel between Lucia and the heron explicit. Like the bird, she migrated from Cuba to the US. Although this transition was initially full of unknowns, Lucia has made a home in Nebraska, where she is safe and free.

The red umbrella also reappears in these chapters. When Papa unexpectedly appears at the airport, he is using the umbrella as a cane. The family has held on to this umbrella through all their trials, and it represents their strength, independence, and loyalty to each other. Its surprise appearance here marks the end of the family’s long separation and finally resolves the narrative’s tension.