Childish fantasy
Soto preserves a range of childhood fantasies in his vignettes. For example, when he and his brother measure a footprint, they conclude that it must belong to a giant. Their parents seem indifferent to their observation, so the children’s imagination flows freely: "Back in bed, I closed my eyes, convinced that because the giant's brain was so far from his feet, he would have no pity when he turned onto our street." While thinking about the giant, Soto reveals another irrational "worry" that causes him distress: "I had once said hello to a worker, and he had said hello back. One day, he might show me the machinery, and by accident I might fall into a hamper of straw and get tangled in the machine that tied the wire."
Naivety
When retelling the stories from the perspective of an adult, Soto avoids any kind of reflective commentary and simply states what happened from the perspective of a naive child who is unable to foresee the consequences of his actions. For example, when he places rocks on the railroad tracks, hoping for the train to derail, he was rather disappointed, which shows that he lacks empathy as well: "Not much happened when I set a rock on the railroad tracks." This lack of empathy is also evident when he describes an accident in a matter-of-fact tone: "When Uncle Junior's collie got hit on Van Ness, I watched him pant on the side of the road, his eyes quiet with the dusk that had captured the street. I couldn't see what was wrong with the dog. No blood flowed, no tears streamed, no protruding bone made the dog curl his lips. He just seemed tired, and Uncle seemed tired as he lifted him into his arms and told us kids to get the hell away. He started up the alley, with pain in his arms." His naivety sometimes gets him in dangerous situations, for example when he starts a fire in his house because he was sure that his brother had magic powers to save them, or when he "had once started the car and revved it up until smoke filled the garage and the five kids sitting with [him] became sick."
Guilt
At the beginning of the book, Soto recalls how he defied his mother’s instructions and crossed roads or rode his bike around other blocks. He knew he did something wrong but he did not feel much guilt. The first time he feels guilty is when he steals a piece of pie at the age of six, and the way Soto narrates the episode shows that now as an adult he finds it humorous. At first, he mutters to himself, "No one saw," but then he feels the looks of the neighbor and runs home. When he describes eating the pie, he uses a personification saying that even the pie tin glares at him--apart from everyone else he sees: "A car honked, and the driver knew. Mrs. Hancock stood on her lawn, hands on hip, and she knew. My mom, peeling a mountain of potatoes at the Redi-Spud factory, knew." The metaphor "My face was sticky with guilt" illustrates that he just was not able to banish this feeling of guilt.
