Confusing the Saints is a short story in Ana Menendez’s collection In Cuba I Was A German Shepard. The narratives in the collection are all united by their use of humor as a storytelling tool and their focus on the lives, loves, and tragedies of the Cuban exile community. Similar to others, Confusing the Saints explores the themes of immigration, isolation, and identity, which is unlike what the West, namely Europe and the U.S., are necessarily expecting. In particular, the story touches on the personal qualities and unifying characteristics of all exiles, wondering what it is like to leave one’s homeland and how it impacts the people who stay (Menendez, 2002). The idea of being forced to leave one’s home behind and leave as a part of diaspora elsewhere is, in general, a subversive conversation for the majority of Western communities.
The short story follows the life of a woman whose husband was embarked by raft for the United States: a country she does not have much association with. In her agonizing sense of wait, she is accompanied by the support of her community that feels very isolated from the world around them. She is advised to pray for the lost sailors to Santa Barbara, which does not bring her comfort. It is an old Cuban legend, however, about the old god Olodumare and his trials that help the narrator to make peace with her feelings of helplessness and dread. Thus, it is not the elements of Western culture the main character is interacting with that have the power to guide her through the difficult period in her life. Instead, the Cuban folklore and mythology assist her in the reconciliation with herself, and these legends would have been unlikely to mean much for the typical Western reader.
Reference
Menendez, A, (2002). In Cuba I Was A German Shepard, Grove Press.