Chapters 16-17, Forms of Address, Poetry Summary and Analysis

The term "Señor" was typically used for formal address in Argentina, but the prisoners had to use it to summon the guards, which they found demeaning. Alicia said it aloud for the first time when she needed to ask a guard to pee in a can. "Señor" was also the name they had for a nameless guard who helped them when they called but was a cruel sadist. Alicia describes how Señor would randomly attack them and even fired a gun in their prison room. Alicia reminded herself that this man was only a little Señor and that the big Señor was the then present leader of Argentina, Lt. General Jorge Rafael Videla.

Around the time of the Señor incident, new prisoners were brought to...