The unnamed narrator of the poem is a Mexican American individual living on the border of two cultures. Fluent in both English and Spanish, the speaker easily drafts memos in a professional office and orders food at Mexican restaurants. Despite this linguistic adaptability, the speaker feels isolated and exists entirely on the fringes of society.

The English-speaking society in the United States represents one half of the speaker's dual environment. They interact with the speaker in professional office settings and utilize the speaker as a symbol of diversity, or a handy token. They view the speaker through a lens of prejudice, silently labeling the Mexican American individual as exotic and inferior.

The citizens and representatives of Mexican culture who make up the other half of the speaker's heritage. Instead of embracing the speaker as a cultural peer, they look upon the speaker with suspicion due to the speaker's Americanized traits. They communicate their rejection silently, specifically through the judgmental look in their eyes.