Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
The book is written in the context of drug addiction.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Sad, adventurous, moving
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is the unnamed narrator.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is in the first story, where the narrator drives while drunk, knowing that he might get involved in an accident. The accident indeed occurs, and the narrator survives a head-on collision.
Climax
The climax comes in the second section, where the narrator discovers that the mute man, at some point, was a successful football player.
Foreshadowing
Getting into the car while drunk by the narrator foreshadowed a head-on collision accident.
Understatement
The effects of drug abuse are understated. Drug abuse does not only cause addiction but also results in death. For instance, Jack Hotel died because they took drugs in excess.
Allusions
The story alludes to the effects of drug abuse.
Imagery
Sight imagery is enhanced by the author when describing the various images, the narrator sees while under the influence of drugs. For instance, when the narrator arrives in Kansas, he sees different things that he can only explain.
Paradox
The main paradox is that despite knowing that he will get involved in an accident, the narrator gets into the car to go hiking while drunk.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Drug addiction is a metonym for youth’s wastage in society.
Personification
Drugs are personified as intoxicating agents that cause human confusion.
