The author starts out say “Poor Juan! ” you know that something bad has happened to the man, this attracts your attention and leads you to keep reading. She says that fate caught him with one of its dirty tricks while had his guard down, and then proceeds to tell the tale. She vaguely hints of the doom that lies ahead of Juan and you have to know what horror awaits him. It is organized as a story, told in chronological order; this is effective in showing you the steps to his demise as he steps up the ladder. It is sad, ironic and somewhat humorous; her tone is somewhat playful as she portrays Juan as naive and hopeful.
This really helps you feel sorry for him, you see him start out as an innocent victim and watch him rise (or fall) to the position of the person who is harming the victim. She describes his thought process as he decides to apply for a job as censor, so you know that his intentions are for the best. He is so intent on finding his letter that he goes through his job even though he is put in danger. He works so hard that they keep advancing him, and soon you realize that it is now more important to him to do his job well and keep getting promoted, he has almost forgotten the letter and his original goal of finding it.
He becomes his own enemy. He became completely enthralled in his job and the rest of his life no longer mattered. He finally becomes the machine that he started out trying to sabotage. Valenzuela describes the events that led to Juan’s demise in a somewhat offhand tone, to show that it really was simply fate that led him there. She gives examples of the hurdles he has to jump over. She uses process analysis and causal analysis to show how and why it happened.