I'm just the old sod spoiling the mood.
-- Pointer (Pages 261 - 266)

Importance: In the story's opening scene, Pointer is eating alone at the hotel restaurant until the waitress asks him if Ned can join his table. Pointer makes the above remark to Ned when Ned acts embarrassed and apologetic. This moment gestures towards the real way in which Pointer sees himself: a lonely, elderly man. When he makes the remark, the narrator's attention shifts to the many couples around the restaurant. These descriptions paired with Pointer's words begin to develop his character and establish the narrator's close relationship to Pointer's psyche.

But while the thought of what happened that night last year didn't trouble him, Pointer sensed, as they talked, that for Ned it cast a kind of shadow.
-- Narrator (Pages 261 - 266)

Importance: While sharing dinner together in the story's opening scene, Pointer and Ned talk about the recent murder at Hotel Dahoma. The murder occurred when a...