ANNA IN THE TROPICS
Santiago, Cheche and Ofelia are among the characters in the play “Anna in the Tropics”, who represent various forces that are present in the world. The play took place in an old warehouse in a town called Ybor City, in 1929. Santiago is the owner of a cigar factory who is addicted to gambling and a defender of the Cuban traditions in the factory. He is less receptive to change and new ways of production. He has a wife named Ofelia and two children named Conchita and Marela. He has a brother who is named Cheche. Cheche is Santiago’s half brother who in contrast to Santiago, is interested in modernizing the cigar factory and preferably mechanizing it rather than in the stories of the new Lector hired by Ofelia. He is bitter with Lector owing to the fact that his previous wife left him for a Lector. Ofelia is Santiago’s wife who is loving and passionate. She keeps her family together and prevents it from falling apart.
In the first act, Cheche represents change, a force that is inevitable for a persons or businesses success. He represents it since he never advocated for the Lector, who told stories at the factory as the employees continued to labor. The love stories he told were at the expense of the cheap laborers at the cigar factory. In the world, the forces of change are present and are necessary, both for personal as well as organizational development. Cheche however contradicted the force he presented in the second act in which he was the only one who did not change as a result of the Lectors love stories. The contradiction represented the various types of change; technological and the behavioral changes.
He also represents the force of hate, which is exhibited by his resentment for the Lector. He hated the Lector due to the previous encounter he had with the previous Lector who ran with his wife. The force of hate causes bad actions as it was witnessed in the second act of the play. He killed Lector in revenge of the act that the previous one had done to him. The hate that had been built from the act of the previous Lector was transferred and caused him to hate the new Lector and even to kill him in the end. In the world, the force of hate has caused untold harm and revenge leading to death and untold suffering.
Santagio represented the forces of addiction and recklessness, which are present in the real world. In the first act of the play, he was exhibited as a reckless gambler who could not resist the habit during the cockfights, which were hosted by Eliades. He carelessly placed bets in the cockfights, without any caution as his brother Cheche did. After the first loss from the bet which he had placed a higher amount than his brother, he even placed a larger bet which he also lost. He continued and even borrowed his brother and placed a section of the factory at risk due to his habit. Such risky forces of addiction have interfered with many families across the world. Some have even gambled with the most valuable family treasures and have lost them in useless gambles. That has resulted into broken and suffering families across the world.
Santiago also represented the forces of family unity and love. He loved his family and was ready to do anything so as to fend for them. His family, especially his wife Ofelia defended him through ideas. His daughter Marela was the link and a family tie when the two of them were not in good terms. Like any other families, his family experienced good and bad times. In the first act, the family had a bad time and he and his wife were not in good times. The family, in the second act, experienced good times after the love story was told by Lector and influenced them accordingly. In the world, the forces of family unity and love are present. Love for their family gives men a reason to work and keep up with challenging situations so as to protect their family members from the harm that would befall the family in case they relent to the pressures of life.