Summary

The Mole picks up the narrator and begins to ask him questions confirming his identity. The Mole orders the narrator to drive to the nearest plaza. The narrator tells the reader that although the test he must take to get into some organization is “easy,” it is “very important to pass” (76). He reveals that the reason he is trying to “get in” is for the money. The test is beating a dog to death in the Buenos Aires port in order to estimate whether you would be able to do something worse. Thinking about this, the narrator begins to worry over whether he will eventually have to kill someone.

The narrator approaches some dogs in the plaza with a shovel in his hand. He looks over the dogs, deciding which one to choose. When a dog suddenly bites another around the neck, the...