In the Distance

“‘You mean the lion,’ a toothless man interjected. ‘It was a lion. Killed it with his bare hands.’ A few steps away, a man in a tattered double-breasted coat who had been eavesdropping on their conversation said, ‘He was a chief once. In the Nations. That’s where he got his name.’”

The conversation between the passengers aboard the Impeccable develops the theme of Myths of the West. Håkan is already a legend when the novel opens. This scene builds suspense and intrigue about which of the stories of the Hawk are true. It’s later revealed that many of the stories the men have heard about the protagonist are inaccurate. For example, the mountain lion is already dead when Håkan finds it, and he is never a chief although he does spend some time in an Indigenous village. Diaz creates a frame narrative by having Håkan share the true tale of his life with the passengers.

“It is true that he most likely would have died without Linus, who always made sure he had enough to eat, managed to keep the house warm while their parents were away, and distracted him with stories when food and fuel were scarce.”

This passage establishes the brothers’ bond and Linus’s key character traits, which include kindness, protectiveness, and imagination. This is the only chapter in which Linus appears as more than a memory. As a result, Diaz must quickly develop his character so the reader will understand why the protagonist spends the majority of the novel searching for his brother and the sense of belonging he provides.