# VII explained — To Cuba and Back > Chapter companion for To Cuba and Back by Richard Henry Dana Jr.. ## What happens The narrator observes the presence of Coolies in Cuba, noting their importation and conditions. He visits the Jesus del Monte area, contrasting the squalid outskirts of Havana with the grand view from the Bishop's residence. He describes the lack of small coinage, the openness of domestic life, and the cultural practice of naming shops and towns. The chapter concludes with a visit to the opera at the Villanueva theatre, where he observes the local society. ## Themes in this chapter ### Economic Exploitation and Sugar Monoculture The narrator reflects on the Coolie trade as a manifestation of capital dominating labor, linking it to broader economic exploitation in Cuba. ### Cultural Contrast Between North and South The narrator contrasts the open, public domestic life in Havana with the privacy of hotels in the United States, highlighting cultural differences. ### Travel as a Lens for Social Critique The narrator uses his observations of Coolies, coinage, and social customs to critique Cuban society and its inequalities. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown Narrator The narrator explores Havana, observes Coolies, visits the Bishop's residence, and attends the opera. ### Coolies The narrator notes the presence of Coolies in Cuba, their importation, and their appearance in the streets and as cooks at the hotel. ### The Bishop The narrator visits the Bishop's temporary residence at Jesus del Monte, though the Bishop is not present. ### Antonio Antonio is a servant at the hotel, involved in comedic miscommunication with a woman from the opera troupe. ### Domingo Domingo is another servant at the hotel, rival to Antonio, and is called by the opera troupe woman. ## Key lines > These are the victims of the trade, of which we hear so much. I am told there are 200,000 of them in Cuba, or, that so many have been imported, and all within seven years. The narrator identifies the Coolies as victims of the labor trade, noting that 200,000 have been imported to Cuba in just seven years. _Highlights the scale and exploitation of the Coolie trade._ > The drive, by way of the Calzada de Jesus del Monte, takes one through a wretched portion, I hope the most wretched portion, of Havana, by long lines of one story wood and mud hovels, hardly habitable even for Negroes, and interspersed with an abundance of drinking shops. The narrator describes the poor, squalid conditions of the outskirts of Havana, with mud huts and many drinking establishments. _Contrasts the poverty of the outskirts with the grandeur of the city's views._ > No city in America has such an avenue as the Paseo de Tacon. The narrator praises the Paseo de Tacon as an unparalleled avenue in the Americas. _Reflects the narrator's admiration for Havana's urban planning._ > The Cubans have a taste for prodigality in grandiloquent or pretty names. Every shop, the most humble, has its name. The narrator observes that Cubans give elaborate and poetic names to even the humblest shops. _Illustrates the cultural tendency toward hyperbole and decoration._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters/vii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/to_cuba_and_back_se/chapters