“I wake up…The touch of that cold object against my penis wakes me up. I didn’t know I could urinate without being aware of it. I keep my eyes shut. I can’t even make sense of the nearest voices.”

These are the novel’s opening lines. They establish the narrative point of view as straightforward and intimate. The first-person present tense immerses the reader in Cruz’s sensory experiences, and thus , the reader maintains a close connection with Cruz as he adjusts to—and attempts to make sense of—his physical pain and the proximity of death.

“Your own cruelty, when you’ve been cruel, hasn’t it always been tinged with its own tenderness? You know that all extremes contain their opposites: cruelty and tenderness, cowardice and bravery; life, death.”

This quote exhibits Cruz’s desire to comfort himself and rationalize his actions as he struggles to make peace with his life. This philosophical second-person internal dialogue contrasts starkly with the third-person narrative, which presents Cruz as crude, selfish, and materialistic.

“In any case, you just have to learn something about social differences, you can’t shake hands with everyone you meet.”

This quote demonstrates the extent to which social class dominates everyday life in mid-20th-century Mexico. Catalina is counselling Teresa against making friends with the shop attendant who has helped the mother and daughter with their package. In addition to establishing the dominating nature of social class, this quote portrays Catalina as an upper-class woman who is careful about asserting and protecting her status as a member of Mexico’s aristocracy.