Twenty years of abstention, of keeping the past where it belongs, will come to an end.
-- Narrator (chapter 1)

Importance: At the start of the novel, Andrés discovers that he will be back in town for his twentieth high school reunion. Within the opening paragraphs of his account, Andrés reveals that he has always intentionally avoided these events. In the narrative present, however, Andrés decides to attend the gathering. This moment, therefore, indicates Andrés yet unarticulated desire to confront his fraught past and to reconcile with it. This line also marks the novel's inciting event.

I am unsettled by the past.
-- Narrator (chapter 3)

Importance: As Andrés enters the reunion venue, he confides in the reader the truth of his feelings. This moment further conveys Andrés's complicated relationship with the past, while introducing new narrative conflicts. Indeed, Andrés goes on to say that he is not generally hateful of the past...