Bogotá

Bogotá is the primary setting of the novel, as this Colombian city is where much of the narrative action takes place. Antonio has lived here for as long as he can remember and therefore possesses an intimate relationship with the setting. However, when Antonio is shot by Ricardo's murderers on the city streets in 1996, his regard for Bogotá begins to change. He starts "to despise the city, to fear it, [and] to feel threatened by it" (65). He cannot inhabit the place in the way he once did, because he is constantly afraid that he will be attacked again. He is familiar with the city's history of violence, but in this history did not psychologically impact him in the same way throughout his childhood and early adulthood. The shooting locates this violence in Antonio's personal experience and complicates his ability to engage with his home. Many people of Antonio's...