1997

The year 1997 frames the novel’s prologue at El Sauzal, Baja California, Mexico. Its opening scene places Art Keller before the bodies of a mother and her dead baby, making the year’s introduction inseparable from the human cost of gun violence.

Date and Setting

The prologue identifies 1997 as its year and locates the scene at El Sauzal in the state of Baja California, Mexico. The date anchors the opening in a specific place and time rather than presenting the deaths as an undated image.

The Prologue’s Opening

Art Keller reads the position of the bodies: the mother lies over her child, and he understands that she tried to shield him. The baby is dead, and the mother’s gesture could not protect him from automatic-rifle fire at close range. The year’s first scene therefore establishes both the violence and the instinctive act of protection that violence defeats.

Narrative Significance

As the prologue’s time marker, 1997 introduces the story through aftermath rather than explanation. The reader first encounters the consequences—a dead child and a mother’s failed attempt to save him—before receiving any fuller account of the shooting. That opening makes the year a frame for a scene in which intimate family protection meets overwhelming force.