Martinez is a violent Los Angeles policeman who targets the city’s Native American population. He extorts money from Ben and physically attacks Abel when he has no funds to give him. When Abel later tries to confront Martinez, the policeman beats Abel even more brutally, and Abel ends up in the hospital.
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Martinez Character Timeline in House Made of Dawn
The timeline below shows where the character Martinez appears in House Made of Dawn. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
10. The Night Chanter, February 20
...to a bar popular with Indigenous people in the city. Sometimes a corrupt cop named Martinez visits the bar, and the owner bribes him to be amenable. Ben sees a friend...
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...memory shifts to a night when he and Abel are returning from their usual bar. Martinez, the police officer, holds Ben and Abel up in an alley, taunting the two men...
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11. The Dawn Runner, February 27
...but a combination of the cold, his lack of funds, and the lingering pain from Martinez’s beating dissuaded Abel from continuing this habit. In between periods of unconsciousness, Francisco speaks and...
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