Make Your Home Among Strangers

Rawlings College is a symbol of power and success—and a symbol of institutionalized racism. For Lizet, Rawlings is more than a name that will go on her resume; it’s a ticket to a new life. As a portrait of American capitalism, Rawlings is the quintessential stepping stone for Lizet. She and other students of color struggle among predominantly white, wealthy students who have family legacies on campus, along with strong networks and professional resources. To succeed, Lizet must acclimate to life in this world while sacrificing her Cuban-American identity; Leidy mocks her for this in the novel, telling her to stop acting like a white girl.

Though Lizet succeeds at Rawlings and uses her education to launch a new life in California, she ultimately doesn’t become a part of that systemically racist academic system. This racism is clear at Berkeley, when her advisor tells her that projects that focus on the needs of poor, immigrant communities and communities of color will never find “more general interest” (384), meaning, of course, that white funders won’t care about them.

The engagement ring that Omar gives Lizet is a symbol of her ties to him, but more explicitly it becomes a symbol of her ties to her home in Miami. Rather than feeling comforting, Lizet experiences it as a weight. The ring, though beautiful, binds her to a place where she feels she cannot succeed, where family expectations would preempt professional and personal success.

Lizet frequently lies about the ring on campus, as if embarrassed of what it says about her. She wears it on her right hand at first; eventually, she stops wearing it altogether so she doesn’t have to feel its weight. Lizet’s behaviors around the ring track with her feelings about home. Around the time she stops wearing the ring, she begins to consider the internship in California that will solidify her life outside Miami, and take her far from home.