Isabel Fernandez Character Analysis In Refugee - LitCharts

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Refugee Introduction + Context Plot Summary Detailed Summary & Analysis Josef: Berlin, Germany – 1938 Isabel: Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (1) Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (1) Josef: Berlin, Germany – 1939, 1 day Isabel: Havana, Cuba – 1994 Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (2) Josef: Train to Hamburg – 1939, 1 day Isabel: Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (2) Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (3) Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 6 days Isabel: Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (3) Mahmoud: Outside Aleppo – 2015, 1 day Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 8 days Isabel: Straits of Florida – 1994, 1 day (1) Mahmoud: Kilis, Turkey – 2015, 2 days Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 10 days Isabel: Straits of Florida – 1994, 1 day (2) Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 4 days Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 11 days Isabel: The Straits of Florida – 1994, 1 day (3) Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 11 days (1) Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 14 days Isabel: The Straits of Florida – 1994, 1 day (4) Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 11 days (2) Josef: On the Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 17 days Isabel: Straits of Florida – 1994, 2 days Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (1) Josef: Havana Harbor – 1939, 18 days (1) Isabel: Caribbean Sea – 1994, 3 days Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (2) Josef: Havana Harbor – 1939, 18 days (2) Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 4 days Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (3) Josef: Havana Harbor – 1939, 19 days (2) Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 5 days (1) Mahmoud: Lesbos to Athens – 2015, 12 days (3) Josef: Havana Harbor – 1939, 21 days Isabel: Between Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 5 days (2) Mahmoud: Macedonia to Serbia – 2015, 14-15 days Josef: American Coast – 1939, 21 days Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (1) Mahmoud: Serbia to Hungary – 2015, 15-16 days Josef: Atlantic Ocean – 1939, 22 days Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (2) Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 16 days Josef: Antwerp, Belgium – 1939, 36 days Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (3) Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 17 days Josef: Vornay, France – 1940, 1 year, 1 month, 10 days Isabel: Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days (4) Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany – 2015, 17 days Isabel: Miami, Florida – 1994, Home Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home Themes All Themes Trauma and Coming of Age Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility Hope vs. Despair Family, Displacement, and Culture Invisibility and the Refugee Experience Quotes Characters All Characters Josef Landau Isabel Fernandez Mahmoud Bishara Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg Lito/Mariano Padron Aaron Landau Geraldo Fernandez Rachel Landau Teresa Fernandez Iván Castillo Fatima Bishara Youssef Bishara Hana Bishara Captain Schroeder Otto Schiendick Samih Nasseer Fidel Castro Waleed Bishara Guillermo Lita Señor Castillo Renata Aber Evelyne Aber Terms All Terms Kristallnacht Bar mitzvah Symbols All Symbols Boats Water Isabel’s Trumpet Download PDF Download Teacher Edition

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Isabel Fernandez Character Analysis

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One of the three protagonists of the book, alongside Josef and Mahmoud. Isabel is 11 years old in 1994, growing up in Havana, Cuba, under Fidel Castro’s regime. Isabel is deeply tied to her Cuban heritage, particularly through her music. She plays the trumpet on the streets of Cuba and especially loves salsa music and other Cuban styles. One issue she experiences, however, is that she is unable to count a Cuban rhythm called clave, which she thinks is supposed to come naturally to Cubans. Like the other two protagonists, Isabel takes on a great of responsibility for her family due to the upheaval in which she lives. When her father, Geraldo, is worried that the police are coming after him, Isabel rallies her own family and another family, the Castillos, to take a boat to Miami and escape the oppression of Cuba. She trades her trumpet for gasoline in order to get the boat to run, demonstrating how she prioritizes her family over her connection to her music and her roots. Among the people who join Isabel on the journey is her grandfather Lito, who is eventually revealed to be Mariano Padron, the Cuban officer who decades ago prevented Josef from entering Havana. Isabel spends much of the dangerous trip acting as an adult: she takes care of her eight-and-a-half-months pregnant mother, Teresa; she saves Señor Castillo when he is tossed overboard; and she spends much of the trip relentlessly bailing out water from their boat so that they can continue their journey. Isabel also deals with a fair share of trauma that expedites this maturity: two years prior, her grandmother Lita drowned during a cyclone in Havana, and on this boat trip Isabel’s best friend, Iván, is killed in the water by sharks. Despite her grief, Isabel is able to persevere and guide her family to reach the shores of Miami. At the end of the book, Isabel is able to reconnect with her heritage when her uncle Guillermo gives her a new trumpet, and Isabel is finally able to count clave. This development proves how Isabel does not need to live in Cuba to be connected to it; family allows Isabel to overcome that displacement and find her roots.

Isabel Fernandez Quotes in Refugee

The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Isabel Fernandez or refer to Isabel Fernandez. 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:

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: Geraldo Fernandez, Lito/Mariano Padron, Isabel Fernandez Related Symbols: Isabel’s Trumpet Related Themes:

Family, Displacement, and Culture Theme Icon

Page Number and Citation: 11 Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis:

Isabel: Straits of Florida – 1994, 1 day (1) Quotes

Isabel listened as everyone listed more and more things they were looking forward to in the States. Clothes, food, sports, movies, travel, school, opportunity. It all sounded so wonderful, but when it came down to it, all Isabel really wanted was a place where she and her family could be together, and happy.

Related Characters: Isabel Fernandez Related Themes:

Page Number and Citation: 84 Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis:

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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?

Related Characters: Lito/Mariano Padron, Isabel Fernandez Related Symbols: Boats, Water, Isabel’s Trumpet Related Themes:

Page Number and Citation: 102 Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis:

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Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes

“Please!” Mahmoud cried. He sobbed with the effort of fighting off the man’s fingers and hanging onto the dinghy. “Please, take us with you!”

“No! No room!”

“At least take my sister!” Mahmoud begged. “She’s a baby. She won’t take up any room!”

Related Characters: Mahmoud Bishara (speaker), Hana Bishara, Fatima Bishara, Isabel Fernandez, Josef Landau Related Symbols: Boats, Water Related Themes:

Page Number and Citation: 162 Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis:

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Isabel: Caribbean Sea – 1994, 3 days Quotes

“Thank you! Thank you!” Isabel cried. Her heart ached with gratitude toward these people. Just a moment’s kindness from each of them might mean the difference between death and survival for her mother and everyone else on the little raft.

Related Characters: Isabel Fernandez (speaker), Josef Landau, Mahmoud Bishara, Teresa Fernandez Related Themes:

Injustice and Cruelty vs. Empathy and Social Responsibility Theme Icon

Page Number and Citation: 177 Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis:

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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?”

Related Characters: Lito/Mariano Padron (speaker), Mahmoud Bishara, Isabel Fernandez, Josef Landau, Rachel Landau, Ruthie Landau/Rosenberg, Aaron Landau Related Symbols: Boats Related Themes:

Page Number and Citation: 276 Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis:

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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.

Related Characters: Guillermo, Isabel Fernandez, Lito/Mariano Padron Related Symbols: Isabel’s Trumpet Related Themes:

Page Number and Citation: 308 Cite this Quote Explanation and Analysis:

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Isabel Fernandez Character Timeline in Refugee

The timeline below shows where the character Isabel Fernandez appears in Refugee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Isabel: Just Outside Havana, Cuba – 1994 (1)

Eleven-year-old Isabel Fernandez is giving a few beans to a cat she had found under her house.... (full context)

Isabel’s next door neighbor Iván greets her, bringing over a dead fish he had found for... (full context)

Isabel worries that the Castillos might get caught, because Fidel Castro, Cuba’s president and prime minister,... (full context)

Isabel notices Geraldo and her grandfather, whom she calls Lito, heading down the road to stand... (full context)

Isabel begins to play a salsa tune. She tries to listen to her own playing, attempting... (full context) Isabel: Havana, Cuba – 1994

As Isabel is playing her trumpet, she hears riots start to break out in the street, and... (full context)

Just as the policeman rears back to hit Isabel, another policeman—Luis Castillo, Iván’s older brother—stops him. The policemen are then called away by a... (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... (full context)

...and announces a new policy: anyone who wishes to leave Cuba may do so legally. Isabel realizes that with this news, Geraldo will want to leave immediately. Lito tells Geraldo that... (full context)

Geraldo and Lito start to fight until Isabel proposes that the whole family travel to the U.S. Lito is surprised, and insists that... (full context)

Isabel runs next door to Iván and Señor Castillo. She sees the boat that they have... (full context)

Isabel runs home and grabs her trumpet. She heads over to the beach, where a fisherman... (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,... (full context)

When Isabel turns to look at the beach once more, she sees two policemen running toward them.... (full context)

Suddenly, gunshots ring out and hit the side of their boat. Isabel realizes that the other policemen are shooting at them because Luis and Amara are deserting... (full context) Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (1)

The lights of Havana fade behind Isabel. Señor Castillo shows Isabel that at the bottom of the boat is a billboard with... (full context)

...will be like. While others mention things like food, clothes, sports, movies, and travel, all Isabel wants is “a place where she and her family c[an] be together, and happy.” Geraldo... (full context) Lito asks Isabel to play a song for them. Isabel explains that she had to trade her trumpet... (full context) Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (2)

...and Amara try to figure out why the boat’s motor won’t start, while Iván and Isabel scoop water out of the bottom of the boat because the sock with which they... (full context)

Lito talks to Isabel and Iván as they work, telling Isabel that he has a brother, Guillermo, who lives... (full context)

Lito says that they should have waited to leave Cuba, but Isabel is adamant that Geraldo would have been arrested. Lito counters, accusing Geraldo of risking his... (full context)

Isabel worries about what Lito said—she has never been able to count clave, but always assumed... (full context) Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (3)

The tanker approaches Isabel’s boat, at least seven stories tall and wide enough to fill the horizon. They desperately... (full context)

Isabel realizes that Señor Castillo has been thrown from the boat, and they immediately look out... (full context) Isabel: The Straits of Florida, Somewhere North of Cuba – 1994, 1 day from home (4)

Isabel dives into the water and is slammed by waves as she tries to find Señor... (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... (full context)

In the storm, Isabel thinks about the last time she saw Lita, her grandmother. Isabel had been nine years... (full context) Isabel: Somewhere on the Caribbean Sea – 1994, 3 days from home

Isabel wakes to a very hot sun, and sees that Teresa has become sick with a... (full context)

...that he will go with Teresa, but Geraldo refuses to be sent back to Cuba. Isabel grows upset—all she wants is for her family to be together. But Teresa refuses, saying... (full context)

...tourists are bringing bottles of water and chips from the café, giving whatever they can. Isabel asks for aspirin, and one woman pulls out a bottle of pills and gives them... (full context) Isabel: Somewhere between the Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 4 days from home

...holding the pieces together are coming loose. The water in the boat is almost to Isabel’s knees. They continue to scoop as much water as they can. Iván whines, asking when... (full context) Isabel: Somewhere between the Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (1)

Isabel slips into the water for her turn to float alongside the boat. The sun sets... (full context)

Teresa starts to shift and wince, and announces that she thinks she’s gone into labor. Isabel is both excited to see her baby brother born and terrified, wondering how her mother... (full context)

...floating in the water, and Lito yells that there is a shark in the water. Isabel scrambles into the boat, and the water around Iván turns dark red. They haul Iván’s... (full context) Isabel: Somewhere between the Bahamas and Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (2)

Invisibility and the Refugee Experience Theme Icon

Isabel and Señora Castillo have been crying since Iván died of his shark bite hours earlier.... (full context) Isabel: Off the Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (1)

Isabel starts to cry upon seeing Miami, because Iván was so close to making it to... (full context)

Isabel then gets an idea, and starts to kick at the engine to pry it off... (full context) Isabel: Off the Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (2)

Isabel and the others become despondent at seeing the Coast Guard ship. A search light clicks... (full context)

Isabel and the others continue to row to shore, getting nearer and nearer. The Coast Guard... (full context) Isabel: Off the Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (3)

Isabel and the others continue to paddle, getting closer and closer to shore. As the Coast... (full context)

...to get better in Cuba all his life, but that they never did. He tells Isabel to take care of Teresa and the baby, and that they need to keep rowing.... (full context) Isabel: Off the Coast of Florida – 1994, 5 days from home (4)

...toward them. Amara dives into the water to swim the rest of the way, but Isabel, Geraldo, and Señor Castillo row as hard as they can. Teresa tries to tell Geraldo... (full context)

The Coast Guard gets closer and closer. Señor Castillo grabs Isabel and pulls her into the water. Together, they swim and pull the boat toward the... (full context)

Isabel holds the baby high to keep him out of the water and staggers onto U.S.... (full context) Isabel: Miami, Florida – 1994, Home

Isabel stands in the front of her classroom in Miami with a trumpet in her hand:... (full context)

...taxi, and the Castillos find new jobs as well to begin their own American dreams. Isabel, meanwhile, begins sixth grade, which is difficult because she doesn’t speak English. But there are... (full context)

Isabel begins to play the trumpet: she auditions with “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the U.S. national anthem.... (full context) Previous Josef Landau Previous Josef Landau Next Mahmoud Bishara Next Mahmoud Bishara Cite This Page Close Company About Us Our Story Support Help Center Contact Us Connect Facebook Twitter Legal Terms of Service Privacy Policy Privacy Request Home About Contact Help LitCharts, a Learneo, Inc. business Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved Terms Privacy Privacy Request