Seashells symbolize the unavoidability of fate. Early on in Felicia’s life, she’s obsessed with collecting seashells. Then, during her childhood, a tidal wave nearly destroys the del Pino home—and after the wave dissipates, the house is full of shells. After this, Celia dreams of a little girl (presumably Felicia) filling her pockets with shells, heedless of the tidal wave that’s about to hit. This leads Celia to believe that shells are bad luck, establishing Felicia’s natural association with misfortune from an early age. Indeed, Felicia goes on to suffer from mental illness, domestic abuse, and general bad luck in spite of her mother’s warnings.
As an adult, a santero (high priest of Santería) uses seashells in a divination ceremony and predicts unavoidable misfortune for Felicia: “water cannot be carried in a basket,” he tells her. The use of shells represents the idea that bad luck is following Felicia despite her better efforts, and the santero’s reading suggests that Felicia won’t be able to hold onto anyone she loves—they will fall away like water in a woven basket. Again, despite this warning, Felicia goes on to suffer more loss and fall deeper into her illness, reaffirming the idea that people’s fate is determined early on (as symbolized by Felicia’s childhood affinity for seashells) and is unavoidable and unchangeable. Later, when Felicia is dying, Celia stomps on the divination shells that Felicia’s friends have brought, as if blaming them for her daughter’s ill fortune. The recurrence of shells throughout Felicia’s life suggests that she was destined to suffer misfortune and to die before her mother, no matter what she knew ahead of time or what anyone else did to protect her.
Shells Quotes in Dreaming in Cuban
Celia overturned the tureen with the sacred stones and crushed Felicia's seashells under the heels of her leather pumps. Suddenly, she removed her shoes and began stamping on the shells in her bare feet, slowly at first, then faster and faster in a mad flamenco, her arms thrown up in the air.
Then just as suddenly she stopped. She made no sound as she wept, as she bent to kiss Felicia's eyes, her forehead, her swollen, hairless skull. Celia lay with her torn, bleeding feet beside her daughter and held her, rocking and rocking her in the blue gypsy dusk until she died.