As the title indicates, the idea of marking or being marked is important in this novel. This is first demonstrated in the title, The Tattooed Soldier, which refers to Longoria and the jaguar tattoo on his arm. For Longoria, marking himself means empowerment: He was kidnapped and forced to be a soldier, and was eventually assigned to the Jaguar Battalion. He gets the battalion’s namesake tattooed onto his body, as he feels it represents him and it makes him feel safe. By getting the tattoo, Longoria is attempting to take control of his life story and embrace his role as a soldier. The tattoo also separates him from other Guatemalans, the people he is ordered to target, because tattoos are not very common in Guatemala. The fact that the tattoo is American creates further separation, since local tattoos tend to be crude.

In Guatemala, Elena and Antonio are marked simply by being students. Given the political context in Guatemala, students are viewed as potential enemies of the government, partly because liberal and reformist ideas tend to proliferate on college campuses. The fact that Elena pursues her investigation about sanitation in the slum marks them as such enemies, which leads the government to decide to eliminate them.