Analyze the climax of the short story in which the protagonist reveals his emotions. What range of emotions does he experience? How do the first and second phases of the scene differ from one another? What does this say about the story’s themes?

Describe the protagonist’s feelings of obligation and shame in the first part of the story. How does Rojas characterize these attributes? How does he differ from the other characters featured in the story? Looking beyond this particular short story, how does this protagonist match protagonists from other Rojas stories?

Compare and contrast elements of the sea and the big city. How does the protagonist perceive each environment? How do the characters reveal new or interesting aspects of these environments? Analyze what this says about the protagonist’s poverty and his navigation of it.