 In 1938, Geoffrey Firmin is an alcoholic former British consul to Quauhnahuac, Mexico, despondent from the yearlong absence of his wife Yvonne.She returns on the Day of the Dead to find him drunk at a bar, and their reunion is terse, with Yvonne asking why Geoffrey never responded to her letters, and she refuses to answer whether she's back permanently or simply visiting.He promises to stop drinking, but he's feels unable to hold himself to it, and runs out into the street and falls down drunk.