“There was a rhythm in my fists.

Pop pop

It told a story.

Pop pop

Everybody thought they knew the story. They’d seen it before. He’ll get over it. It’s a phase. Give him space. But they only knew fragments. They didn’t want to hear the rest….”

These opening lines of the novel foreshadow several important themes and motifs, including the importance of storytelling to Tristan even before the main events of the novel, the way Tristan uses boxing to express himself and work through frustrations, and Tristan’s sense that as a troubled child, he does not have control over his own life.

“Let me give you some truth, and I hope it returns back to me.”

This quote prepares the reader to hear a story and engages the audience. Folktales frequently open with lines like these, so this quote also directly connects the novel and Tristan’s story to the storytelling traditions of Black folklore.

“I hated that name. It made me appear to be something I’m not. My name should’ve been Tristan Coward, or Tristan Failure, or Tristan Fake. Maybe Tristan How-Could-You-Lose-Your-First-Boxing-Match. Anything but Tristan Strong.”

One of Tristan’s consistent inner conflicts is his fear that he will not be able to live up to the expectations of others, especially the adults in his life. Here, Tristan’s reference to his family name shows that one source of this feeling is that his family has high expectations of him, particularly when it comes to boxing, a skill at which both his father and grandfather excelled.