“They washed and threw cold water on their necks and hair then fought for a clean spot on the dirty apron that served as a towel.”

The characters fighting for a clean spot on the dirty towel is a metaphor for the lives and lifestyles of the fictive borough’s residents. Alienated from society and operating at the fringes of morality, the characters are forced to fight with one another for the increasingly sparse resources available in the neighborhood. The society they inhabit is hostile to them, and not everyone can succeed, so friends are forced to fight over something as innocuous as a clean spot on a dirty towel.

“Even the blood couldnt be seen from a few feet away.”

The novel’s Brooklyn is shielded from outside society. In this part of the city, bloodshed is part of the broad tapestry of poverty, and violence that might shock outsiders barely registers here. For the residents, the blood can barely be seen from a few feet away because it is a mundanity.

“The glory of having known someone killed by the police during a stickup was the greatest event of his life.”

For the people growing up in Brooklyn, the prospect of fame and fortune is a remote and unknowable dream. With so little potential to achieve, characters like Vinnie are forced to find other avenues for prestige. He enjoys knowing a notorious criminal as this makes him a part of local mythology. Vinnie may not be famous, but he enjoys fame vicariously.