Reinaldo Arenas

Reinaldo Arenas (July 16, 1943 – December 7, 1990) was a Cuban poet, novelist, essayist and playwright. Despite his early sympathy for Fidel Castro's Revolution against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, he grew critical of and then rebelled against the Cuban government. Before and during his exile from Cuba, he wrote and published many works, including books, essays, songs, plays and long stories. He was sent to prison after being convicted of "ideological deviation" and for smuggling his works out of Cuba. Arenas was eventually forced to renounce his work by Castro's government, as it did not praise the regime and, as such, was considered counterrevolutionary. Though Arenas eventually committed suicide in 1990, he finally felt free from the Cuban government, and encouraged others to continue in their struggle for freedom.

Early Years

Arenas was born in the countryside, in the northern part of Oriente province, Cuba. Soon after he was born, his father left his mother and she took them to live on her parents' farm. Though his childhood was plagued by poverty, it was also filled with a sense of mysticism and freedom. He was surrounded by trees, family, nature and an overarching sense of harmony. Arenas' early years were characterized by curiosity, spirituality, sexuality, creativity, and imagination.

Arenas, mother taught him how to write by writing out long sentences that he would trace over. When Arenas was six, he began attending school at Rural School 91 in Perronales County, where he would attend class for more than six hours a day. He also attended a literary evening once every weekend, where students would recite poems from memory. He recalls this as being one of the most literary times of his life, though he lacked any formal teaching. The only other literary contacts he encountered in youth was his grandmother's mystical stories, and the songs that he learned and would sing to himself in the woods.

Politics

In 1952, Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship had become repressive both politically and morally. Under his government's oppression, the economy deteriorated, especially in the rural areas. There was no work, and Arenas' grandfather was forced to sell his farm and move to the town of Holguín, which Arenas regarded as boring, commercial, flat, and lacking in mystery and personality. He shared a two bedroom home with 10 people, and would work a 12 hour day for one peso. On payday, he would go to the movies in order to let his imagination roam and escape what he felt was the dead town of Holguín. By 1957, terror had become commonplace—he would hear shootings daily. Conditions became more and more unbearable and, around 1958, there were periods of little food and no electricity.

When Arenas was 14, he felt it was his duty to join the guerillas in the mountains. However the injustices Arenas began to witness there made him question the good will of the rebels he had joined. Before Fidel Castro even rose to power, those who were considered traitors by the rebels were being executed. On December 31, 1958, Batista fled the country and Castro's revolutionary government took power in 1959.

Communism

When Arenas was 16, he was awarded a scholarship at La Pantoja, the former Batista military camp that had been converted into a polytechnic institute. He would later graduate as an argricultural accountant, in a new program the government had created to secretly confiscate all land. Arenas describes it as a center for training young communists. Arduous physical tradining was also involved, and in order to graduate, he had to climb the Sierra Maestra mountains six times. Upon completion, he was told that he was not simply a student, but one of the vanguard of the Revolution, as well. He was considered part of the official communist youth movement and and a solider of the new Cuban army. These youth communists would control the economy of the country, and, as agricultural accountants, would be in charge of the administration of land currently under private ownership but which would soon become the property of the State.

Later, Arenas was accepted into a planning course for agricultural accountants at the University of Havana, where he took courses in mathematics, trigonometry, political economy, and planning. During this time, he worked as an accountant for the National Institute for Agricultural Reform (INRA) to pay for his classes, though there was still not enough money for him to eat two full meals a day.

Homosexuality

The State soon began to control nearly ever aspect of Cuban life. There was freedom to praise the Castro regime, but not freedom to criticize it. Moreover, homosexuality was severely punished by expulsion, jail, or both. Those who were discovered to be homosexuals were often stoned, beat up, and barred admission to any state school. Thus, Arenas was continually attempting to hide his sexual orientation.

In 1963, the persecution of homosexuals was getting worse, and they were being sent to UMAP (Units for Aid to Production) concentration camps. All homosexual acts were deemed illegal and punishable by years in jail. By 1964, young men were even being persecuted for having long hair and wearing tight fitting pants. Many homosexuals were arrested and some were nearly killed merely for being gay.

Eventually, every gay writer and artist was "parameterized." That is, they received a telegram stating that their behavior did not fall within the political and moral parameters necessary for their jobs. Homosexuals were immediately taken from their jobs and sent to forced labor camps. Many became informers to save themselves, while others committed suicide to escape Castro’s cruelty. Bonds of friendship were shattered, and mistrust filled the air.

Later, Arenas was pressured into marriage in order to apply for housing, as the state would not allow a known homosexual to have a home. Arenas' married a woman named Ingrávida Félix, but he was still not allowed to get a house.

Counterrevolutionary

Arenas' found himself unable to trust anyone, as he slowly found out that many of his friends were informers for State Security. State Security was very interested in how Arenas managed to smuggle his manuscripts out of Cuba—they wanted to know how many other manuscripts he had, where they were and who Arenas' foreign contacts were. The police searched his room periodically and anyone caught hiding his manuscripts would have been sentenced to years in prison.

Around 1969, state-enforced "voluntary" work was in full effect, and the Cuban people had to participate in Castro's agricultural efforts to harvest ten million tons of sugarcane. The National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) decided that all writers were to be sent to the sugar mills. By 1970, Arenas found himself working in one of these mills, cutting down sugarcane and being forced to write a book praising Castro's to sugar program. Had he attempted to leave the plantation, he could have been sent to jail for anywhere from five to 30 years.

The situation at the sugar plantations was almost intolerable. The workers lived in barracks and were treated like slaves, with no hope for the future. Although it was considered “rehabilitation” by the regime, the men forced into this labor would go to great lengths to get a mere break from the hard work. Some even cut off their own fingers, just to be able to get some rest.

On the other hand, many writers in Cuba were becoming informers for the government, and the persecution worsened as people became more eager to become familiar with the works of censored writers. The regime feared that large numbers of young people would become followers of nonconformist writers and attempted systematically to humiliate and demoralize any writers who might become counterrevolutionary symbols.

"Counterrevolutionary" writers were forced to apologize for their works and call themselves despicable, cowards, and traitors. Part of their "rehabilitation" involved stating publicly that they had come to understand the beauty of the Revolution, and they were also forced to denounce their friends and retract their previous works. These confessions of ideological errors were filmed and circulated not only in Cuba, but throughout the Third World and Soviet bloc.

Prison

In the summer of 1973, Arenas was robbed at the beach. This contact with the police led to his arrest for being a homosexual. Though he was released on bail, he was set up by old friends of his who had become informers. He was convicted of "ideological deviation" and sentenced to eight years in jail for publishing abroad without official consent. Arenas later escaped from prison, but despite many suicide attempts and attempts to flee the country, he failed.

After escaping from prison, Arenas hid in Lenin Park. On November 15, 1974, he wrote a letter asking for help and denouncing the Cuban regime. He told readers the truth about what was really happening in Cuba – he wrote about the persecution, censorship, executions, imprisonment and harsh treatment people were receiving. While in hiding, he began work on his autobiography Before Night Falls, which was later confiscated when he was captured. State security told the public that he was a rapist who had killed an old woman, so they would be more likely to resent him for his horrible crimes and tell the police if they saw or heard of him.

Following his subsequent capture, he was returned to prison at El Morrow Castle. Here, homosexuals were treated like beasts, but since he entered prison as an assumed rapist and murder, he did was not held in the gay ward of the prison and was not subjected to such brutality (at least not by other prison mates). Here, inmates were allowed a mere one hour of sunlight once or twice a month. There were even informers placed within the prison that were really a part of state security and undercover guards. Arenas described the ethics of this era as those of vendetta.

Arenas had been in prison for over six months before he was even allowed a trial. In the meantime, his fellow inmates found out he was a writer and he began to write love letters to their girlfriends and families for them. Later, he was taken to a penalty cell of utter isolation and despair. Here, he was questioned again about his contacts and how he managed to smuggle his work out of the country. If he confessed, he would have to inform on 15 to 20 of his friends who had helped him and made sacrifices for him, which he refused to do. Instead, he made another unsuccessful attempt at suicide.

He was secretly taken to Villa Marista, the headquarters of State Security, as they did not want him to commit suicide before they got a confession out of him. He was taken to an interrogation room and questioned; and, since everyone still believed he was in prison, he was told that of he did not confess, they could make him disappear. Arenas was in complete isolation, and after three months of death threats and interrogations, agreed to sign a confession.

Confession

In his confession, Arenas detested homosexuality, confessed to being a counterrevolutionary and falling victim to ideological weakness. He also recanted his writings, and thus, all of his life. He stated that his only hope for the future and redemption was to join the Revolution and work all day and night on its behalf. Arenas was forced to praise those who informed on him and said they were wonderful people and heroes. He was sent to a forced labor camp to, once again, be "rehabilitated" and promised to write optimistic novels about the Revolution.

Arenas agreed reform his sexual behavior, to cut all of his ties with the Western world and promised to no longer write anything against the Cuban Revolution. He was forced to confess to a common crime (such as corrupting a minor and rape) in order to avoid any international scandal. (The Cuban government did not want the rest of the world to know why Arenas was truly being punished).

After Arenas publicly apologized for all of his "crimes," he lost his pride, dignity and rebellious spirit. He felt as though he had betrayed himself and everyone else in his life. He was sent back to El Morro prison, and was finally allowed the privilege of a trial. He received a two year jail sentence and had to make a list of people who were enemies of the Revolution. Thus, he gave the names of the agents of State Security who had previously informed on Arenas. The regime also forced him to write a public letter stating that he was doing well, was in very good health and hoping to return home shortly.

Later, Arenas was transfered to an outdoor prison, where he built houses for Soviet advisers from dawn until eight or nine at night. It was considered a privilege to be in this environment. Thus, no one tried to escape, for the fear of being returned to El Morro. Here, he was again forced to write a public letter, stating that he was practically free, and that he would spend his weekends at home, with his family. Nonetheless, despite Arenas' public letters speaking of his happiness and good health, he secretly sent a letter to his friends in France describing his real condition.

Release

In early 1976, Arenas was released from prison; but, he was still being closely monitored by State Security. He immediately tried to find his manuscript of Farewell to the Sea, but it had been stolen by State Security. When questioned about the manuscript, he lied to the police and said he had forgotten all about it.

There was no food, no work, no water, and the city was absolutely disgusting and unkempt — trash had not been picked up for over three years in some parts of the city. By this time, it had even become illegal to swim in the ocean. Huge walls were put up to divide the beaches and keep most people out. Arenas felt as though all of the joy in his life was lost. Not only had he lost all trust, but he couldn't even see the ocean that had been such a huge part of his life. Then, his grandmother past away, and, with her passing, his way of looking at life completely changed for the worse. He could no longer find humor in anything and felt lost.

Nonetheless, Arenas perservered and illegally purchased a room (as no one was allowed to sell property in Cuba), where he could continue writing his own novels in peace. Here, completed rewriting Farewell to the Sea, and promptly found various hiding places for the manuscript, later smuggling it out of the country.

Exile

In 1979, Castro decided to get rid of those former political prisoners who he considered to be unimportant, and granted them exit permits to leave Cuba. Castro also permitted the insane, old criminals and homosexuals to leave the country. Castro let those out who posed no danger to the image of his government. Thus, professionals with degrees and writers were not allowed to leave, as he feared they may tell the rest of the world what was really going on in Cuba. Additionally, before the exiles were allowed to leave, they had to sign a document stating that they were leaving for personal reasons and that they were unworthy to live under the Cuban regime.

The police who authorized Arenas' exit permit were not aware that he was a writer, only that he was a homosexual. As he left for the Port of Mariel, he was searched, as exiles were not allowed to take any papers with them, especially not phone numbers or letters. While he was waiting to board the boat, State Security began searching for him. Passengers had to wait in line to confirm that they were not one of the writers or professionals who were not allowed to leave the country. So, Arenas changed his name from Arenas to Arinas on his exit permit, and slipped by State Security.

On the morning of May 4, Arenas left on the San Lázaro and, after getting lost, arrived in Florida three days later. He got a job as a visiting professor at the International University of Florida, where he taught a course on Cuban poetry. Then, in August 1980, Arenas accepted an invitation to speak at Columbia University in New York. He subsequently moved to New York City on December 31, 1980.

In just three years out of Cuba, Arenas took part in three international films, traveled through Europe, wrote or rewrote six books, founded a literary magazine and had been invited to over forty universities to speak. It was as though he was making up for lost time, and was finally allowed to feel a sense of absolute freedom, without the fear of persecution.

Writings

After entering a storytelling contest, Arenas was invited to work at the National Library, where he began writing and reading non-stop. However, before long, the library was considered a place for ideological corruption and any book Castro's regime considered ideological diversionism was quickly removed. Despite his short life and the hardships imposed during his imprisonment, Arenas produced a significant body of work.

Arenas' writings and openly gay lifestyle were, by 1967, bringing him into conflict with the Communist government. His only novel published in Cuba, Singing from the Well (1967), was considered disrespectful for not praising the regime. The book was smuggled out of the country and published without prior authorization from UNEAC, along with another manuscript of his entitled The Ill-Fated Peregrinations of Fran Servando. Thus, Arenas was placed under surveillance and questioned by State Security. His writings supported the individual's right to self-expression and were thus considered antirevolutionary and censored.

In 1965, Arenas submitted Singing from the Well to a literary competition sponsored by UNEAC. As the judges could not come to an agreement, no first prize was awarded that year and Arenas was awarded first honorable mention. This novel was about a child who was persecuted by him family, as well as by the impoverished conditions of his rural existence, and had to rely on his imagination to survive. The lack of realism in his writing led to this novel's limited publication to only 2,000 copies before it was banned in Cuba. The regime considered the free-flowing narrative to undermine the realism that should characterize writing, as cultural policymakers demanded that literature clearly contribute to revolutionary consciousness.

In 1966 Arenas was awarded second place for The Ill-Fated Peregrinations of Fray Servando by UNEAC, and no first prize was given out. This novel was also banned in Cuba and was later published abroad. He left the National Library and became an editor for the Cuban Book Institute until 1968. From 1968 to 1974 Arenas was a journalist and editor for the literary magazine La Gaceta de Cuba.

Many of Arenas' manuscripts were destroyed, stolen or lost. For example, Farewell to the Sea was destroyed by one of his former friends and it took him two years to rewrite the manuscript. In fact, Farewell to the Sea was rewritten a total of three times, as it kept vanishing or ending up in the hands of the state. He found himself constantly moving his work from one hiding place to another until he could find a way to smuggle it out of the country. And, after Arenas escaped from prison, he even burned his manuscripts in fear that they would be discovered.

His Pentagonía is a set of five novels that comprise a “secret history” of post revolutionary Cuba, which was never completed. It includes the poetical Farewell to the Sea, Palace of the White Skunks, Singing from the Well, The Color of Summer and The Assault. In these novels Arenas’ style ranges from a stark realist narrative to absurd satiric humor. He traces his own life story in what to him is the absurd world of Castro’s Cuba. In each of the novels Arenas himself is a major character, going by a number of pseudonyms.

His autobiography, Before Night Falls was on the New York Times list of the 10 best books of the year in 1993. Arenas began writing the story of his life while he was a fugitive living in Lenin Park in Cuba. He would have to write as much as possible before dark, since he had no light to write by; hence, the title Before Night Falls. However, his manuscript was lost multiple times and, while he was in the hospital, he dictated the story of his life because he was too ill to type. In 2000 this work was made into a film, directed by Julian Schnabel, in which Arenas was played by Javier Bardem.

Sadly, Arenas never received compensation for many of the books he published abroad. Moreover, he had a very difficult time getting published once he was living freely in the United States. When he was living in New York, he began work writing articles for the magazine Mariel, which was first published in Spring 1983. Though it was not well received, Arenas proudly contributed to it and it was published for a few years.

Death

Despite multiple attempts to commit suicide while in Cuba, Arenas was diagnosed with AIDS in the winter of 1987. After battling the illness, Arenas overdosed from drugs and alcohol in 1990 in New York. In a suicide letter written for publication, Arenas wrote:

Due to my delicate state of health and to the terrible emotional depression it causes me not to be able to continue writing and struggling for the freedom of Cuba, I am ending my life...I want to encourage the Cuban people out of the country as well as on the Island to continue fighting for freedom. I do not want to convey to you a message of defeat but of continued struggle and of hope. Cuba will be free. I already am.

Through Arenas' honest and campy style, he managed to fight for the rights of indiviuals, regardless of things such as their sexual orientation. His influence is not simply literary, it is political as well.

Selected Bibliography

• The Assault (1992) ISBN 0-14-015718-2.
• Before Night Falls (1993) ISBN 0-14-015765-4.
• The Color of Summer (1990) ISBN 0-14-015719-0.
• The Doorman (1991) ISBN 0-8021-3405-X .
• Farewell to the Sea (1987) ISBN 0-14-006636-5.
• Graveyard of the Angels (1987) ISBN 0-380-75075-9.
• The Ill-Fated Peregrinations of Fray Servando (1994) ISBN 978-0140241662.
• Mona and Other Tales (2001) ISBN 0-375-72730-2.
• Old Rosa (1995) ISBN 0-8021-3406-8.
• The Palace of the White Skunks (1990) ISBN 0-14-009792-9.
• Singing from the Well (1987) ISBN 0-14-009444-X.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Arenas, Reinaldo. Before Night Falls: A Memoir. Trans. Dolores M. Koch. New York: Penguin Books, 2000. ISBN 0140157654.
• Ocasio, Rafael. Cuba's Political and Sexual Outlaw: Reinaldo Arenas. Gainesville: University of Florida, 2003. ISBN 9780813026725.
• Soto, Francisco. Reinaldo Arenas. Twayne's World Authors Series. New York: Twayne, 1998. ISBN 9780805745542.

External links

• The Knitting Circle: Literature - Reinaldo Arenas. www.knittingcircle.org. Retrieved June 25, 2007.
• Reinaldo Arenas (1943 - 1990) - Find a Grave Memorial. www.findagrave.com. Retrieved July 3, 2007.

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