The Island Within

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2012

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

The Island

The island is a key symbol in “The Island Within.” The island of the title represents the island of Cuba. However, the island as a symbol is more than a reference to Cuba. The island also represents a place “you still call home” (Line 33) that no longer exists. Therefore, the speaker pities Behar in Line 31, as she is “still trying to reach / that unreachable island within the island” (Lines 31-32). The island is a symbol for nostalgia, longing, and desire, all of which can be satiated through sensory experiences like “cafecito” (Line 14), “homemade flan” (Line 15) and “conga beats” (Line 10), but never entirely fulfilled. Therefore, the elusive island is forever just out of reach, yet Behar and the speaker continue to seek it.

In Line 34, the speaker states, “I thought I was done / with Cuba, tired of filling in the blanks, / but now I’m not sure” (Lines 34-35). Unlike Behar, the speaker had distanced himself from Cuba; now, as he reflects on Behar’s longing for home, he realizes the island remains a cultural part of himself and he cannot help feeling drawn into a sense of nostalgia. Following this, the poem descends into memory and returns to Cuba, this time in the form of the speaker’s past.

Memory

In “The Island Within,” the majority of the poem is framed as a recollection in which the speaker looks back on a memory from “last night” (Line 3). The poem opens with a memory: “I’m still thinking about your porch light / like a full moon casting a foggy halo / in the frigid air last night” (Lines 1-3). These first lines set the mood and scene of the poem and portray the speaker as someone looking back on a previous experience. This image invites the reader to experience a feeling of nostalgia and longing, two concepts that play into the theme of home and exile in the poem. By framing the poem in this way, Blanco establishes the foundation for what’s to come: A conversation about whether one can really return home or return to the past in general.

The motif of memory repeats throughout the poem. In Line 9, the speaker begins listing and defining all the sounds and flavors from Behar’s past: The “mambo” (Line 9) dance, the “conga beats / and bongo taps” (Lines 10-11), the “cafecito” (Line 14) and “the slice of homemade flan / floating in burnt sugar” (Lines 15-16). All these elements of Cuba combine to recreate Cuba in Behar’s mind, despite her being “captive in Ann Arbor” (Line 8). Memory in “The Island Within”' becomes a place the speaker and Behar are forced to inhabit and live.

Cold and Heat

The contrasting symbols of cold and heat in the first stanza draw a contrast between Michigan and Cuba. Outside the house is Michigan, but within the house is Cuba. This contrast is clear thanks to depiction of the warmth indoors through images like the “cafecito” (Line 14), the “homemade flan” (Line 15), and the music. While the heat of Havana within the walls of Behar’s home cannot melt the outside snow, the speaker and Behar can still travel back to Cuba in their imaginations.

In the first stanza, a striking contrast between cold and heat is observable. The speaker spends nearly 9 lines describing the outdoor elements of Michigan and painting the scene of winter. “The frigid air” (Line 3), “the bare oaks / branching into the sky like nerve endings,” (Lines 3-4), and the “frozen stars” (Line 5) all depict a desolate, cold, winter image. The speaker clarifies these images by stating in Line 6 that bright colors of Behar’s house are “protesting yet another winter for you / captive in Ann Arbor” (Lines 6-8). The symbol of winter and cold contrast the scene that follows, which set inside the warm interior of Behar’s home in which she “[practices] / mambo by the fireplace” (Lines 8-9). She wears “red-velvet shoes” (Line 10) as she dances, depicting a vitality that contrasts with the frigidity of the outdoors. The interior is warm, passionate, and inviting, while the outside is cold and isolating.