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Isabel’s trumpet represents her connection to her Cuban heritage. At the beginning of the book, Isabel is described as being able to play anything, and loves to play salsa and other Cuban music on the streets of Havana. But when Isabel is forced to trade her trumpet for the gasoline that will allow them to travel to Cuba, this emphasizes that Isabel is prioritizing her family’s safety and potential for a better future in the U.S. over her connection to her Cuban roots. Still, on the boat to Miami, Isabel worries that she will lose that connection entirely, particularly because she had never been able to learn to count a Cuban rhythm pattern called clave and worries that she won’t be able to learn outside of Cuba. However, at the end of the book, a relative Isabel meets in Cuba named Guillermo gives her a new trumpet, and she is able to learn to count clave. Thus, the replacement of Isabel’s trumpet in the U.S. embodies her undying connection to her family and her roots—is not living in a country that allows for Isabel’s connection to her heritage; instead it is the presence of her family that enables Isabel to regain her trumpet and her culture.
Isabel’s Trumpet Quotes in Refugee
The Refugee quotes below all refer to the symbol of Isabel’s Trumpet. 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.
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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 Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qu
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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As water seep into the Fernandezes and Castillo’s boat, Lito becomes frustrated, feeling that they are doomed to sink and that they should have stayed in Cuba. He argues that Isabel will become too separated from her roots, and that she will never learn to count clave in Miami. This touches on a fear that Isabel herself has. Her music, as represented by her trumpet, is the largest means by which Isabel engages in her Cuban heritage. In trading her trumpet away for gasoline for their boat, she demonstrated that she was willing to prioritize her family and their future Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Vo
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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One month after Isabel arrives in Miami, she tries out for her new school’s band with a new trumpet gifted to her by her uncle Guillermo. She plays the U.S. national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” but plays it with a salsa rhythm. As she plays and her new classmates clap along, she realizes that she can hear a second rhythm—that she can finally count clave. This is the culmination of what had been a major worry for Isabel, who thought that she would never be able to connect to her cultural heritage (represented by her ability to count clave) Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi
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Isabel’s Trumpet Symbol Timeline in Refugee
The timeline below shows where the symbol Isabel’s Trumpet appears in Refugee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Isabel: Just Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (1)
...calls Lito, heading down the road to stand in line for food. She retrieves her trumpet so she can go with them and play on the street corner. She loves playing...
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Isabel: Havana, Cuba – 1994
As Isabel is playing her trumpet, she hears riots start to break out in the street, and people chanting against Castro....
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Isabel: Just Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (2)
Isabel runs home and grabs her trumpet. She heads over to the beach, where a fisherman lives. Isabel asks him for gasoline,...
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Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (1)
...Isabel to play a song for them. Isabel explains that she had to trade her trumpet for the gasoline. Lito is shocked—the trumpet was “everything” to Isabel. Isabel thinks to herself...
(full context)
Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (2)
...eventually. She wonders, now, if she will ever hear it. Isabel thinks, “Like trading her trumpet, had she swapped the one thing that was really hers—her music—for the chance to keep...
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Isabel: Miami, Florida – 1994, Home
Isabel stands in the front of her classroom in Miami with a trumpet in her hand: a gift from her uncle Guillermo. She is auditioning for the orchestra,...
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Isabel begins to play the trumpet: she auditions with “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the U.S. national anthem. But instead of playing traditionally,...
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