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"On the other hand, he was tormented by his crimes. When he drank too much, and that was often, he would mutter things like, 'If you only knew the diabluras I've committed, you wouldn't be here right now.' And on some night she would wake up to him crying." (Diaz, 125)

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“Do you know what Pontiac stands for? Poor Old Nigger Thinks It’s A Cadillac. But who was he looking at when he told his punch line? He was looking straight at me. That night he wanted me, but I pushed his hand away. Don’t touch me. Don’t get sore, he said, putting my hand on his cock. It wasn’t nothing. And then he laughed.” (diaz 132)

Shows a kind of blind hate towards Africans and pontiac for that matter!also causes for a little problem while looking strait into Ana's eyes

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"I didn't mean to do it! I didn't mean it!" (Diaz 125)

This is the side of the gangster

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"I might have no one in the world, but at least I'm free" (Diaz 134).

The idea that makes Lola attracted to the Gansgter and keeps her strongly attached is the idea of freedom, which she has never really experienced innher life.

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"The gangster had told Beli many things in the course of their relationship, but there was one important item he'd fail to reveal. That he was married" (Diaz 138).

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"He was a true gangster, gully to the bone, lived the life all those phony rap acts can only rhyme about" (Diaz 34).

The gangster did a lot of things that would put rappers with the "gangsta" image to shame. He's not somebody to test your wits with.

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"Our boy wasn't no ringwraith, but he wasn't no orc either" (Diaz 119).

He had a decently significant position in Trujillo's regime.

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"an opinion his parents endorsed by turning him out of the house when he was seven" (Diaz 119).

Became resourceful and fearless

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"she tried to talk about the dead baby but he waved the diminutive ghost away with the flick of his wrist" (Díaz 162).

The Gangster has already set up a power imbalence between him and Beli because of the major age difference, but he continues this inequality by playing on Beli's dreams and wishes and constantly overlooking how she feels.

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"She didn't take kindly to these disappearances. They made her look bad in front of La Inca and the neighbors, who were always asking sweetly, Where's your savior now, Moses?" (Diaz 130).

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"She believed in the Gangster. Was loyal to the end" (143).

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"He was a true gangster, gully to the bone, lived the life all those phony rap acts can only rhyme about" (Díaz 122).

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"a thief of innocence" (Díaz 126).

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"The gangster romanced the girl like only middle aged niggers know how" (Díaz 124).

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"But folks always underestimate what the promise of a lifetime of starvation, powerlessness, and humiliation can provoke in a young person's character" (Diaz 119).

Gives the reader an early on look at why the gangster is who he is

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"If you only knew the diabluras I’ve committed, you wouldn’t be here right now. And on some nights she would wake up to him crying. I didn’t mean to do it! I didn’t mean it!" (Diaz 125).

The remorse is a more sensitive side to the Gangster, and it's what makes Beli fall in love with him.

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"she bragged about how she would be living in Miami soon, wouldn't have to put up with this un-country much longer" (Diaz 128). "I might have no one in the world, but at least I'm free. She had never heard anyone say those words. I'm free wasn't a popular refrain in the Era of Trujillo. But it struck a chord in her, put La Inca and her neighbors and her still-up-in-the-air life in perspective. I'm free. I want to be like you, she told the Gangster" (Diaz 134). - Similar to Aldo's character

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"The gangster adored our girl" (Diaz 127).

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"The Gangster romanced the girl like only middle-aged niggers know how" (Diaz 124).

The Gangster uses his power, life experience, and influence to court Beli from her lustful love of Jack Pujols.

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"she realized with a start that she loved this gangster" (Diaz 35).

"the Gangster was a man of the world, had fucked more prietas than you could count. He didn't care about that shit. What he wanted was to suck Beli's enormous breasts " (Diaz 34-35).

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the fact that hes married to "a Trujillo" (138).

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He is trying to stay relevant, and uses Beli for that reason.

"Life, it seemed, had struck the Gangster a dolorous blow, and he was uncertain as to how to respond"(Diaz 125).