Kendall McRae Post 1

In chapters 5-8 of The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera, I have learned that Juan is slowly trying to make his way to the peak of his potential, and that there is more to him than he himself realizes. In the beginning of the novel, Juan is a very reserved, logical teacher at the University of Camaguey. He tends to stick to one answer instead of letting his mind wander to alternatives. As the chapters go on however, Juan slowly develops into a more mature individual. As you can see (on page 39) while he is being dragged roughly behind the inner tubes he emerges only to find his left hand still grasping onto one of the lines tied to the 'rafts.' This symbolizes that there is more strength inside of Juan than he gives himself credit for. The average person may have crumbled under the devastation after Andres' death, but Juan somehow moved on. It was surprising to me on page 69 when Juan grabbed a pectoral fin and struck the gills of the tiger shark, which shows that under the negativity and panic, there is more to him than it seems.