Plot literary genre: drama | Chicago, 2022
Main characters
Armando Garcia is a painter who loves to paint at night. He is also a humble man, born in Cuba and who has never left the island. He earns what he and his elderly parents need by being a guide for tourists. With the two old men he shares a small dilapidated cottage, two usable rooms and a weed-infested patio. Armando divides his nights between canvases and Maria, the young woman with whom he is in love. He would like to get married but needs the money they don't have.
The call to adventure
One day Armando acts as a guide for art dealer Dan Sutter, who comes across the young man's works. He is immediately fascinated and wants to showcase Armando's talent in his Chicago gallery.
The conflict
The gallery owner's offer puts Armando on edge. The American offers to arrange his escape and assures him money and success once in the States. But the offer concerns only him, not his parents or Maria. Armando is torn. He refuses; he could not live without those he loves. On seeing him frustrated both his parents and Maria try to reassure him. It will be the girl herself who suggests he leave, “Get rich and then come back for us.” Armando decides to take the risk since he understands that the hopes of those he loves go through him.
The key
In Chicago Armando becomes a modern art star. In a very short time he achieves fame and financial success. The island he left behind, the affections, the memories, become more and more blurred as the months pass. A new companion, the comforts of the penthouse, the possibility of access to any desire distance him from the past. Until one day he receives a photograph from Cuba: a little girl is portrayed painting a night sky. It is his daughter. He realizes at that moment that he is out of place and prepares to return.
The alternatives
The core of this story is based on a person who has a chance to access a better world and this jump makes him forget past ties. The protagonist can come from a suburb, from a poor place, and can easily be placed in another era or deal with something else. What is appropriate to preserve is the difference between the two places that form the backdrop of the narrative, trying to create two beauties at the antipodes.
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