To be Cuban is to be proud – it is both our greatest gift and our biggest curse."
-- Elisa (chapter 1)

Importance: This quotes shows how Elisa's thinking tends toward broad strokes about her identity, and her shared identity with her family and her countrymen. Generalizations like these are prominent throughout the text, but this particular idea of Cuban pride is drawn on again and again by Cleeton, describing the internal-external conflict that characters display.

The line between hero and villain is a precariously fragile one."
-- Marisol (chapter 22)

Importance: Wondering about what Pablo was like, Marisol is cautious, not sure what exactly to think about her newly discovered grandfather. She knows that he was a dreamer and a fighter, but has no idea what he became. This sentiment is echoed in Luis's later theory of history's most monstrous leaders starting out with the best intentions.

I can't imagine him in my world, and I certainly don't belong in...
-- Marisol (chapter 18)