Chris Mercer and "Casa Dividida"

 I recently read "Casa Dividida"by Chris Mercer in school, where I learned a lot more about the Cuban Revolution and the conflicts regarding communism. There were two perspectives in the book, one young girl who grows up poor and working tirelessly on a farm and living in a small shack. The other was a boy who came from a wealthy family and lived in a mansion in Havana. Through the Cuban Revolution, the goal was the balance out the severely high wealth gap, and have a more communist society. The changes made in Cuba after the war, like the nationalization of private businesses or better healthcare for the poor  are shown through two different viewpoints, making the book more universal and less biased. This made me wonder about the negative and positive results of the war, and the values that the government prioritized. Liberty and freedom of speech/expression was not a priority. In fact, government officials prosecuted or jailed those who expressed a controversial view on the government. This was shown through Luisa's (the poor girl) daughter later in the story. Natalia (the daughter) and her friend rebelled against the government and graffitied a controverisal message late at night. When I finished reading about war heroes, including Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, I was curious about the author's intentions and backstory and how it lead him to write this book. In my next post, I will do research on Chris Mercer and his intentions.