Previous
Leon
Daniel’s best friend from Ridgeborough. Roland is Mexican-American, and like Daniel, is missing a parent, since his father died when he was young. As one of the only other people of color in Ridgeborough, he finds it easy to relate to Daniel, and the two become fast friends, listening to music and eventually forming a number of bands together. Outgoing and likable, Roland is a good front man. When he and Daniel are 21, they establish a band called Psychic Hearts. Roland, for his part, becomes obsessed with writing music that will impress a booker named Hutch, and though the songs he pens are trendy and popular, Daniel finds them uninteresting. Nevertheless, he moves to New York after leaving SUNY Potsdam, crashing on Roland’s couch and playing in Psychic Hearts. Before long, people start to talk about the band, but Daniel is too preoccupied with his personal life to devote himself to the project, so Roland kicks him out, replacing him with another guitarist. Despite this falling out, though, he later reaches out to Daniel and tells him that he misses him.
Roland Fuentes Quotes in The Leavers
The The Leavers quotes below are all either spoken by Roland Fuentes or refer to Roland Fuentes. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2 Quotes
Being surrounded by other Chinese people had become so strange. In high school, kids said they never thought of him as Asian or Roland as Mexican, like it was a compliment.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes
On the corner of Grand and Lafayette, the address for the poker club reverberated in his mind. He headed south to where Howard Street crossed over to Hester. It wasn’t too late, he could turn and go right to Roland’s, go right past the building, which was narrow, no doorman, only an intercom. He checked his phone; no messages. He was frightened by how much he was about to fuck up, by his lack of desire to stop himself, the rising anticipation at the prospect of falling down, failing harder, and going straight to tilt; he’d known from the moment he left the bar exactly where he would end up. He pressed the intercom button.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes
In the end, he hadn’t been able to do what Peter and Kay wanted. Three more semesters of classes, followed by graduate school. Staying upstate. He hadn’t been able to do what Roland wanted either, play the music Roland wanted him to play.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Leavers LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Roland Fuentes Character Timeline in The Leavers
The timeline below shows where the character Roland Fuentes appears in The Leavers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...club called Jupiter. As Daniel listens to the opening act, he thinks about his bandmate, Roland Fuentes. Roland has been his best friend since junior high and is a charismatic front...
(full context)
...Ko writes. “In high school, kids said they never thought of him as Asian or Roland as Mexican, like it was a compliment.” Before Daniel went to SUNY Potsdam (which he...
(full context)
...the cultural breakdown of Potsdam doesn’t matter to him anymore, since he’s been sleeping on Roland’s couch in the city. As he wanders through the streets after the show, Roland texts...
(full context)
...puts away his phone and decides to go back to the apartment and apologize to Roland, resolving to learn the songs and commit himself to Psychic Hearts.
(full context)
...he was out late the night before, and he says he had a show with Roland. “Was it in a bar?” Kay asks. “Mom,” Daniel replies. “I haven’t been doing anything....
(full context)
...and then tries to think of what to say in his statement of purpose. When Roland comes home, he apologizes for running offstage, but Roland doesn’t hold it against him. Instead,...
(full context)
Chapter 4
On the way home from school that day, a boy named Roland Fuentes catches up to Deming and introduces himself. Roland—who’s Mexican—is the only other person of...
(full context)
When Deming goes to Roland’s house after school, they listen to Hendrix. Together, they create fake band names, eventually writing...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...to the poker club. “It wasn’t too late, he could turn and go right to Roland’s, go right past the building,” Ko writes. “[…] He was frightened by how much he...
(full context)
Chapter 9
Daniel and Roland play another show, and this time it goes well. Hutch—the Jupiter booker—is there and likes...
(full context)
As Roland and Daniel argue in their friend’s recording studio about the direction of Psychic Hearts, Daniel...
(full context)
...smaller gig that Michael attends. After their set, he comes over and congratulates Daniel and Roland, genuinely impressed by their musical talent. When Michael asks Daniel if he talked to Polly,...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...“I might have to go upstate the day after tomorrow. For a meeting,” Daniel tells Roland. “You’re fucking with me, right? We have a show on Friday,” Roland says. Angry with...
(full context)
After his shift, Daniel goes to Psychic Hearts’s rehearsal space and finds one of Roland’s friends playing guitar instead of him. When he asks what’s happening, Roland tells him he...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...term of summer school and begins the second term. Slowly, he begins to correspond with Roland, who has finally booked a show at Jupiter. He also starts recording some of his...
(full context)
Chapter 19
...into his bedroom and checks his computer, finding kind messages from people like Cody and Roland. He then receives a video call from Peter and Kay. “Where are you?” Peter asks,...
(full context)
