“Nemesio pettishly sticks to his hierarchical role as head of the family, and rejects Atanasio's entreaties for brotherly sympathy.”

“After Zac, there is Yvan, the baby, who is cosseted and overfed, with pettishly long hair.”

“A fervent believer as a boy, he broke with the church as an adolescent, pettishly refusing his mother's dying request that he make his confession and take Communion.”