Structure

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Beginning

The short story begins with a backstory on Rafael’s father: “Rafael’s father started to die in March. By summer, it was nearly complete.” (l. 1). This is also a narrative hook, as it opens the story with a dramatic statement that compels readers to keep reading. The narrator continues to develop the backstory, explaining that Rafael had to watch “in muted horror” (l. 3) as his father became increasingly weak after a series of strokes. This suggests Rafael’s inner conflic…

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Middle

In the rising action, the narrator explains that Mario and Rafael go to the same park where Rafael had previously seen a dead body. A flashback then informs readers about the circumstances in which this happened. Four years earlier, while Rafael and a group of friends were walking along the Hudson River, they spotted something in the water. The narrator reveals that “None would admit they were afraid.” (l. 49), creating a tension point. The tension is further increased as the narrator delays revealing that what they see is a dead body. Instead, the narrator describes one of Rafael’s friend’s reactions: “Amir saw it first, drifting against th…

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Ending

In the falling action, Rafael and his family go to Santo Domingo, where Rafael meets relatives he does not know and whom he does not fully understand (ll. 177-180). In these circumstances, Rafael begins to have obsessive thoughts about his father, Mario, and the dead bodies:

He thought of his father. Every minute of every hour, he thought of his father, and of Mario and the park. He thought of the water lapping over the dead man's body, an…