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Cantú’s Uncle
A more senior agent, Cole instructs Cantú and his fellow recruits immediately after they graduate. He’s nicknamed “Black Death” because he once ran over and killed a man he called an “Indian” who was asleep in the road. Cole laughs heartily when he tells this story, but Cantú and the rest of the recruits are uncomfortable, presumably because of Cole’s flippant racism and callous act of violence.
Cole Quotes in The Line Becomes a River
The The Line Becomes a River quotes below are all either spoken by Cole or refer to Cole. 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:
).
Part 1 Quotes
Outside in the parking lot, trying to gather my strength, I thought about the tears in Cole’s eyes, about Morales’s far-off gaze, about his parents huddled in the corner […] My face became hot and I could feel moisture collecting in my eyes. […] I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I would not go back, I decided, I would not let the water gather into tears.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Cole Character Timeline in The Line Becomes a River
The timeline below shows where the character Cole appears in The Line Becomes a River. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
...at their patrol station, Cantú and his fellow new recruits are out with senior agent Cole when they find evidence of migrants. They comb the desert for five miles until they...
(full context)
One night, the recruits surveil in the dark with Cole for several hours before laying a spike strip in the road and settling to watch...
(full context)
...few bundles of drugs. They search the hillside for the drivers but don’t find them. Cole tells the recruits the truck is only a distraction, and Cantú knows he won’t bother...
(full context)
Out in the field again, sometime later, Cole squirts hand sanitizer over a cholla cactus and sets light to it. The recruits stand...
(full context)
On another occasion, Cole radios behind to the recruits, who are wandering in a rowdy pack behind, to warn...
(full context)
Part 2
One night, Cantú is working the overnight shift when his former coworker Cole calls to report two dead men and a third in hospital, whom his agents recovered...
(full context)
...understand the intelligence side too, and that he should get on with the report. Later, Cole calls again to report a large shipment of drugs his agents intercepted. They didn’t apprehend...
(full context)
