1994

1994 marks the opening of a new section in the novel, placing a quieter encounter between Anthony Casati and Sonia after the preceding episode’s violence. The year functions as a clear temporal and structural marker, while the scene that follows begins with Anthony searching for Sonia in a storeroom.

Section and Time Marker

The book presents the transition as a sequence: a section divider, the heading “1994,” and the title You Could Be Mine. Immediately before it, Anthony’s encounter with Hacine Bouali ends in humiliation and flight: Anthony spits in Hacine’s face and leaves. The change of section moves the narrative away from that confrontation without explaining how its consequences will develop, setting a new temporal frame rather than supplying a recap.

Opening Scene

The first scene under the 1994 heading finds Anthony in a storeroom, where he discovers Sonia. She has headphones on, listening to rock ’n’ roll, and is staring at her chewed-up fingernails; enclosed in what the narration describes as a bubble, she does not hear him enter. Anthony has been looking for her for half an hour. When she does not respond, he snaps his fingers under her nose, making the scene turn on the gap between her absorbed isolation and his urgent attempt to reach her.

Narrative Significance

The evidence establishes 1994 as the frame for this new section, not as a complete account of everything that happens during the year. Its opening scene is deliberately immediate and specific: rather than explaining the interval since the earlier violence, the narrative resumes with Anthony’s search and Sonia’s inattention. The shift from the exposed hostility of the preceding encounter to the storeroom’s private, music-filled enclosure gives the new section a distinct point of entry while leaving the larger development of the year open.