To Cuba and Back · Question
How does To Cuba and Back develop the theme of Economic Exploitation and Sugar Monoculture?
Answer
To Cuba and Back by Richard Henry Dana Jr. develops Economic Exploitation and Sugar Monoculture across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The narrative highlights how Cuba's economy is dominated by sugar production for export, with enormous wealth generated for a few while the island is heavily taxed by Spain and lacks industrial or intellectual diversity.
The narrator reflects on the Coolie trade as a manifestation of capital dominating labor, linking it to broader economic exploitation in Cuba.
The narrator's journey to Matanzas is motivated by the desire to see sugar plantations in operation, and the description of Coolie labor highlights the exploitative economic system.
The chapter describes the vast cane fields, the sugar mill, and the labor of slaves and coolies, highlighting the plantation economy.
Evidence in the book
- VII
The narrator reflects on the Coolie trade as a manifestation of capital dominating labor, linking it to broader economic exploitation in Cuba.
- X
The narrator's journey to Matanzas is motivated by the desire to see sugar plantations in operation, and the description of Coolie labor highlights the exploitative economic system.
- XI
The chapter describes the vast cane fields, the sugar mill, and the labor of slaves and coolies, highlighting the plantation economy.
- First Day on a Sugar Estate
The chapter details the economics of sugar production, including profits, risks, and the harsh labor system that underpins the plantation's success.
- XIII
The chapter details the sugar production process, the plantation's daily routine, and the sacrifice of coffee trees to sugarcane, illustrating the dominance of sugar monoculture.
- XIV
The narrator contrasts the peaceful coffee estate with the 'life consuming toil' of sugar ingenios, highlighting the economic pressures on planters.
- XVI
The chapter highlights the sugar monoculture's dominance and the heavy taxation that enriches Spain while limiting Cuban economic diversity.
- XIX
The prison's use of money to determine treatment reflects economic exploitation and class-based justice.
