Our House in the Last World by Oscar Hijuelos
"Our House in the Last World" is a novel by Oscar Hijuelos that explores the life of the Sorrea family, who are part of the Cuban aristocracy residing in Holguín. Following the death of the family patriarch, Teodoro Sorrea, in 1929, the family faces significant changes, including their emigration to the United States in search of a better life. The narrative centers on Mercedes, one of the daughters, who grapples with her memories of their opulent home and the haunting presence of her father’s ghost. As the family struggles with poverty in America, they experience the cultural challenges of assimilation, identity, and familial bonds amid the backdrop of Cuban heritage.
The novel highlights the intertwined lives of family members, showcasing their aspirations, disappointments, and the impact of generational shifts. Themes of immigration, the immigrant experience, and the complexities of adapting to a new culture are prevalent throughout the narrative. As characters navigate their changing realities, they are confronted with issues of language, identity, and familial expectations, all while grappling with personal tragedies and societal pressures. Overall, Hijuelos's work provides a poignant reflection on the immigrant experience and the enduring ties to one's homeland.
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Our House in the Last World by Oscar Hijuelos
First published: 1983
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Bildungsroman
Time of plot: 1920’s-1970’s
Locale: Cuba and the United States
Principal characters
Alejo Santinio , an immigrant from CubaMercedes Santinio , his wifeHoracio andHector , their sons
The Story:
The aristocratic Sorrea family lives in Holguín, a prosperous old city in eastern Cuba. Their immense house has to be sold when the patriarch, Teodoro Sorrea, dies in 1929. Mercedes, the second of three daughters, sees the ghost of her father frequently and dreams about the happy life she has lived in the house. She marries Alejo Santinio, a well-dressed dandy from the small town of San Pedro, ten miles from Holguín. He is the youngest of two brothers and nine sisters. His family owns farmland, but he wants a more exciting life away from rural Cuba and decides to emigrate with Mercedes to the United States.
Alejo sends his wife and children to visit their relatives in Cuba. The three-year-old Hector loves Cuba, but his other brother, Horacio, is only impressed by the sight of Teodoro Sorrea’s ghost. They meet Alejo’s great-grandmother, Concepción O’Connors; she had married an Irish sailor, which explains the light skin and European looks of the two brothers.
Upon their return to New York, Hector has to be hospitalized for almost a year because he contracted an infection in Cuba. The nurses ridicule him for not speaking English and make him afraid of speaking Spanish. Hector becomes sickly and obese. His brother tries to make him tougher so that other children will not treat him like a freak. Horacio is very talented and hardworking; he is a choirboy and has several jobs to help the family. Frustrated by his family and failed love relationships, he joins the U.S. Air Force.
Alejo has a heart attack because he works too much and stays out too late, and Mercedes has to get a job scrubbing floors. She has two sisters in Cuba, Rina and Luisa. The latter came to the United States with her family in the 1960’s, escaping from the government of Fidel Castro. The arrival of Hector’s relatives makes him remember the smells and tastes of Cuban things. Mercedes realizes that, after twenty years of life in America, her family does not have anything, while her relatives, who have recently arrived, have established themselves quickly and prospered in a short time.
Two of Alejo’s sisters, Lolita and Margarita, live in the United States. Margarita has been living in New York City since 1932 with her husband, Eduardo Delgado, a Cuban tobacco exporter. They welcome the new immigrants who settle in as boarders in their apartment in Spanish Harlem. Alejo enjoys having fun with his friends while Mercedes worries about the expenses. He spends their savings on gifts, worthless business investments, and gambling. After several jobs, he becomes a cook in a hotel restaurant.
Horacio was named for his maternal great-grandfather, and Hector was named for Alejo’s older brother, who had died in Cuba. Buita, Alejo’s eldest sister, comes to visit from Cuba with her husband, Alberto Piñón, a musician who is the leader of a popular band. She hates Mercedes and makes life unbearable for her. Mercedes dreams about Buita coming at her with a knife. Margarita and Eduardo also have a son and move back to Cuba. When her husband dies, Margarita returns to the United States. She, her son, Buita, and Alberto settle in Miami, where many other Cubans live.
Alejo starts drinking heavily after the news of his brother’s death. Influenced by Buita, he is treating Mercedes badly and responds with physical abuse when she complains about their poverty. He hits his wife and children to show them that he is the “man of the house.” He spends many nights away from home; Mercedes is afraid that he will abandon her and that she will be thrown out of the country.
When Horacio comes back from military service in Europe, he criticizes his family, not wanting their life of poverty. He moves out of the house and marries. Hector does not listen to his parents, gets drunk often, and dreams of escaping to a better life; he visits his Aunt Buita and her rich husband in Miami. Hector admires the Cubans who live well, wanting to be like them. One day he suddenly hears about his father’s death and has to return home.
For a few years, Alejo has been holding two jobs. While Hector is in Miami, he suffers an injury at work and dies. Mercedes becomes oblivious to everything, keeps the apartment dark, walks in circles, goes into trances, imitates the voices of the dead, and talks to herself. Hector, who has not been able to cry for his father, is afraid to see his ghost at night. He cannot sleep because of the strange noises around him; ghosts seem to inhabit the house.
Hector graduates from high school and college; he also travels throughout the country. After he moves out, he lives near his mother’s apartment, helping her with shopping and household chores. At the age of twenty-five, he works a few blocks from where his father used to work. He writes thoughts down, dreaming about writing a book. He often hears the voices of his family members; by writing down his dreams and theirs, he feels closer to them.
Bibliography
Augenbraum, Harold, and Ilan Stavans, eds. Growing up Latino: Memoirs and Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. This collection of Latino fiction and nonfiction discusses the coming-of-age and memoir literary tradition, which helps to understand Hijuelos’s works.
Fein, Esther B. “Oscar Hijuelos’s Unease, Wordly and Otherwise.” The New York Times, April 1, 1993. Excellent article about Hijuelos, his life and works, and his personal observations. Confirms the autobiographical nature of his first novel.
Foster, David William. Handbook of Latin American Literature. New York: Garland, 1992. Includes Latino writing in the United States. Discusses Hijuelos’s works in the context of the cultural history and social and cultural contributions of Cuban Americans.
Kanellos, Nicoläs. Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Literature in the United States. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1989. Each entry provides a biography; the literary genres, themes and analyses of works by each covered author; and a bibliography. Hijuelos’s novel is discussed for its treatment of Cuban assimilation in the United States.
Pérez Firmat, Gustavo. Life on the Hyphen: The Cuban-American Way. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994. Focuses on Cuban American performers and writers. Hijuelos is presented as a cultural figure whose work exemplifies a bilingual, bicultural identity in search of a collective identity.
‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. “Teaching Oscar Hijuelos’ Our House in the Last World.” In U.S. Latino Literature: A Critical Guide for Students and Teachers, edited by Harold Augenbraum and Margarite Fernández Olmos. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. Provides a literary analysis of Hijuelos’s novel and a brief biography of the writer. Although aimed at teachers, this book also is useful to students and general readers.
Stavans, Ilan. “Words and Music: Oscar Hijuelos.” In Conversations with Ilan Stavans. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2005. Reprints literary critic Stavans’s interviews with Hijuelos and other Latino/Latina writers, artists, and intellectuals.