The Doors Open at Three

     The most important quote from this story, The Doors Open at Three by G. Cabrera Infante, is on the very last page.

     "Down the street a man with a long pole in his hands was lighting the lamps one by one. As I watched him I understood. It was then that I realized that I was quite alone, all alone rather, and that I would never see Virginia again. Never again would I feel what I felt when she said to me: 'Wait for me. The doors open at three. I'll be there.' The idea of loneliness horrified me more than loneliness itself. But it was inevitable and I accepted it: I knew because two big tears were clouding my eyes. I could make nothing out but the yellow glare of the yellow lamps lighting the street ahead."

The idea of loneliness is repeated throughout almost every novel we have read dealing with post-colonization. The fear of being left alone in a world surrounded by people because you could not relate, you were shunned, or for any other number of reasons, was overpowering and common thought among people experiencing unhomeliness and its presence in many different forms in the majority of the stories we have read now confirms this.