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Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg
Isabel’s grandfather and Teresa’s father. (“Lito” is short for abuelito, meaning “grandfather.”) Lito is skeptical of leaving Cuba, but Isabel convinces him to join the rest of the family on the boat to Miami in order to keep the family together and help Teresa as she prepares to give birth to a new baby boy. Lito often gets into fights with Geraldo, whom he believes is prioritizing himself over the rest of his family. At the end of the story, it is revealed that Lito was Mariano Padron, the Cuban officer who decades prior saved Josef’s father, Aaron, when he dove into the water. Lito is haunted by the fact that he told the Jewish passengers on board the St. Louis that they would be able to disembark and arrive in Cuba “mañana,” but never let them in. He turned Josef and the others away and sent them back to Europe (many of them to their deaths), despite the fact that he could have let them in to Cuba. Driven by this guilt, Lito saves Isabel and the others at the end of the book by jumping off of their boat and pretending to drown so that the Coast Guard boat that is following them becomes distracted. He is then deported back to Cuba. Lito’s story highlights the importance of empathy, as he realizes that he had a responsibility to save the Jewish people on the St. Louis but chose to ignore their plight.
Lito/Mariano Padron Quotes in Refugee
The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Lito/Mariano Padron or refer to Lito/Mariano Padron. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Isabel: Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (1) Quotes
Isabel was listening for the clave underneath the music, the mysterious hidden beat inside Cuban music that everybody seemed to hear except her. An irregular rhythm that lay over the top of the regular beat, like a heartbeat beneath the skin. Try as she might, she had never heard it, never felt it. She listened now, intently, trying to hear the heartbeat of Cuba in her own music.
Related Characters:
Isabel Fernandez, Geraldo Fernandez, Lito/Mariano Padron
Related Symbols:
Isabel’s Trumpet
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Page Number and Citation:
11
Explanation and Analysis:
At the beginning of Isabel’s story, she accompanies her father, Geraldo, and her grandfather, Lito, into Havana to wait in line for food. She brings her trumpet, her most prized possession, to play on the street corner, and laments the fact that she still can’t hear the Cuban clave rhythm, which she explains here.
Isabel’s frustration with not being able to hear the clave becomes a central tension in the book when she and her family flee Cuba to go to Miami. Isabel’s trumpet, and music in general, serve as stand-ins for Isabel’s connection to her heritage, because it is one of the main ways in which she engages with her culture. Leaving Cuba only exacerbates her fear that she will never be fully connected to her culture, because she is forced to sell her trumpet and she doesn’t understand how she could possibly learn the rhythm in Miami. Ultimately, however, Gratz argues that family is what enables Isabel to remain connected to her heritage, and with the help of her uncle who lives in Miami, she receives a new trumpet and finally hears the clave rhythm.
Isabel: Straits of Florida – 1994, 1 day (2) Quotes
She had never been able to count clave, but she had always assumed it would come to her eventually. That the rhythm of her homeland would one day whisper its secrets to her soul. But would she ever hear it now? Like trading her trumpet, had she swapped the one thing that was really hers—her music—for the chance to keep her family together?
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Explanation and Analysis:
Josef: Havana Harbor – 1939, 21 days Quotes
“I wish from the bottom of my heart that you will land soon, Little Man,” Officer Padron said again. “I’m sorry. I’m just doing my job.”
Josef looked deep into Officer Padron’s eyes, searching for some sign of help, some hint of sympathy. Officer Padron just looked away.
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Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (3) Quotes
“Don’t you see?” Lito said. “The Jewish people on the ship were seeking asylum, just like us. They needed a place to hide from Hitler. From the Nazis. Mañana, we told them. We’ll let you in mañana. But we never did.” Lito was crying now, distraught. “We sent them back to Europe and Hitler and the Holocaust. Back to their deaths. How many of them died because we turned them away? Because I was just doing my job?”
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Isabel: Miami, Florida – 1994, Home Quotes
She was finally counting clave.
Lito was wrong. She didn’t have to be in Havana to hear it. To feel it. She had brought Cuba with her to Miami.
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Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home Quotes
He was filled with sadness for the boy his age. The boy who had died so Ruthie could live. But Mahmoud was also filled with gratitude. Josef had died so Ruthie could live, and one day welcome Mahmoud and his family into her house.
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Lito/Mariano Padron Character Timeline in Refugee
The timeline below shows where the character Lito/Mariano Padron appears in Refugee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Isabel: Just Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (1)
Isabel notices Geraldo and her grandfather, whom she calls Lito, heading down the road to stand in line for food. She retrieves her trumpet so...
(full context)
Isabel: Havana, Cuba – 1994
...in the street, and people chanting against Castro. Isabel goes to search for Geraldo and Lito. She knows that if her father is caught by the police, he’d be sent back...
(full context)
Isabel: Just Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (2)
Isabel, Geraldo, and Lito return to their home following the riots. Isabel’s mother, Teresa, is pregnant and due to...
(full context)
Lito tells Geraldo that he should just lie low for a while because of the danger...
(full context)
Geraldo and Lito start to fight until Isabel proposes that the whole family travel to the U.S. Lito...
(full context)
Isabel: Just Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (3)
Isabel, Iván, Señor Castillo, Señora Castillo, Geraldo, and Lito are carrying the boat to the beach, packed with water, food, and medicine. Teresa walks...
(full context)
Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (1)
Lito asks Isabel to play a song for them. Isabel explains that she had to trade...
(full context)
Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (2)
Lito talks to Isabel and Iván as they work, telling Isabel that he has a brother,...
(full context)
Lito says that they should have waited to leave Cuba, but Isabel is adamant that Geraldo...
(full context)
Isabel worries about what Lito said—she has never been able to count clave, but always assumed it would come to...
(full context)
Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (4)
Geraldo and Lito continue to get the water out of the bottom of the boat. They quickly realize...
(full context)
Isabel: Somewhere on the Straits of Florida – 1994, 2 days from home
Isabel continues to bail water out of the boat, alongside Teresa, Geraldo, Lito, Luis, Iván, and Señora Castillo. They work feverishly, but the boat fills as quickly as...
(full context)
...her grandmother. Isabel had been nine years old, and she was staying with Lita and Lito while her parents were fighting. A giant cyclone came, which Castro and the government had...
(full context)
Isabel: Somewhere on the Caribbean Sea – 1994, 3 days from home
...to a very hot sun, and sees that Teresa has become sick with a fever. Lito and Señora Castillo try to help keep Teresa cool. Geraldo and Luis are able to...
(full context)
...a few black men in uniforms come over to them, one of whom speaks Spanish. Lito tells the man they are from Cuba, and the man says that they are in...
(full context)
Lito protests, saying that they have a sick pregnant woman on board. The officer says that...
(full context)
Josef: Just Outside Havana Harbor – 1939, 18 days from home (2)
The ships sirens start to blow. One of the Cuban policemen (Mariano Padron) dives into the water and swims out to Aaron. A woman screams as she notices...
(full context)
Padron is able to get Aaron back to one of the small boats, where two other...
(full context)
Isabel: Somewhere between the Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 4 days from home
...much water as they can. Iván whines, asking when they’re going to get there. “Mañana,” Lito says. Lito then becomes lost in thought, and he explains to Isabel that he just...
(full context)
Josef: Just Outside Havana Harbor – 1939, 19 days from home (2)
One of the police boats pulls up to the St. Louis, carrying Mariano Padron, the officer who had saved Aaron. The passengers greet and cheer him as he boards,...
(full context)
Josef, Rachel, and Ruthie go to talk to Padron. Rachel asks how Aaron is. Padron says through an interpreter that Aaron is alive, but...
(full context)
After letting Ruthie catch him, Padron turns to Josef and says that it’s his turn. Josef tries to wave him off,...
(full context)
Isabel: Somewhere between the Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (1)
Suddenly, Iván jumps while floating in the water, and Lito yells that there is a shark in the water. Isabel scrambles into the boat, and...
(full context)
Josef: Just Outside Havana Harbor – 1939, 21 days from home
...Dr. Aber, who already lives in Cuba. He greets his daughters warmly, and with Officer Padron’s permission, carries the two girls to the ship’s ladder and leaves with them. The other...
(full context)
...ship’s engines start to rumble, and the crowd tries to rush toward the ladder. Officer Padron draws his pistol, and other officers do the same. The situation is about to boil...
(full context)
Josef then asks Officer Padron what will happen to his father. Padron explains that Aaron isn’t well enough to come...
(full context)
Isabel: Somewhere between the Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (2)
Lito says that they should do something with Iván’s body, and moves to set him in...
(full context)
Isabel: Off the Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (1)
...get it off of the boat and into the water, lessening some of the weight. Lito wonders whether they should row to shore or try to swim the rest of the...
(full context)
Isabel: Off the Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (3)
...continue to paddle, getting closer and closer to shore. As the Coast Guard ship approaches, Lito confesses that when he was a young man, there was ship full of Jewish people...
(full context)
Lito continues, telling them that he kept waiting for things to get better in Cuba all...
(full context)
Isabel: Off the Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (4)
...into the world while Señora Castillo talks her through it. The Coast Guard picks up Lito and then turns back toward them. Amara dives into the water to swim the rest...
(full context)
Isabel: Miami, Florida – 1994, Home
...she plays it offbeat like salsa. She plays for Iván, lost at sea, and for Lito, who was is in Cuba. She plays for her parents, who had left their homeland,...
(full context)
