What does Hat in Miguel Street look and talk like?

Hat makes an appearance in almost every episode. He is a happy-go-lucky man who works odd jobs to make ends meet. He enjoys life more than anyone the author has ever known and does so despite many challenges and heartache that he feels. One tragedy of Hat's arises when his brother Edward starts trying to become American. Hat has a kind of mid-life crisis and starts going into the city to party and meet women. Eventually he decides that he needs to settle down, so he marries a woman named Dolly. When Dolly cheats on him, he scares off her lover and almost beats her to death. The incident results in a four year prison sentence, which puts Hat out of communication with everyone on the street since the prison, Carrera, is on a small island a good distance away from Miguel Street.

Hat's ubiquitous appearances outside of the chapter of which he is the focus show him to be the leader of the group of friends on Miguel Street that contains Eddoes, Elias, and the author, and a few others, including Bogart early on. Hat is in some ways the running commentator on all the characters and is clearly the most vocal and most quoted character in the entire book. Hat is also partly responsible for giving the book its oft understated description of tragedy, since he often makes light of people's struggles.