Before Night Falls

Consider the relationship between literature and power in Before Night Falls. In what ways does Arenas use literature as a form of dissent? How does his approach to literature contrast with the Castro regime’s approach?

As an exile, Arenas is surprised to discover that many Western intellectuals support Castro. How does Arenas depict these supporters and their ideology? What role—if any—does the Cold War play in shaping these outsiders’ views of Cuba?

Analyze Arenas’s depictions of nature in the text. What is the significance of nature in Before Night Falls? How does it function as setting, symbolism, or even as a personification of other forces in Cuba?

Arenas openly describes his experiences of eroticism throughout his life, as well as periods of self-repression. How does Arenas view eroticism? How does Arenas’s relationship with eroticism change under different circumstances? Why?

For Arenas, freedom takes many forms: sexual freedom, artistic freedom, economic freedom, political freedom. In what ways are these different strands of freedom interdependent? In what ways can they exist in isolation from one another? What forms of freedom exist for Arenas in the US compared to Cuba, and which forms of freedom still prove elusive?

Consider Arenas’s experiences as a gay man. How does Arenas depict his experiences as a homosexual in Cuba? How does Arenas use his sexuality as both artistic inspiration and as a form of dissent?

Do you think dissident literature in Cuba affected Castro’s rule? Did Arenas and other dissident writers ultimately succeed or fail?

Arenas is frequently forgiving towards those who have betrayed him, such as former friends and fellow writers. However, he remains firm in blaming Castro for all of his misfortunes at the memoir’s end. How does Arenas view the issues of integrity and culpability in Before Night Falls? What are the justifications behind his offering of forgiveness or withholding of it?