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Dramatic Irony
Chapter 41
Explanation and Analysis—Demon's Injury:
Demon recounts a life-changing injury received while playing for his high school football team in the form of a flashback:
I recall trying to watch the game, losing focus. The ringing in my ears. Pain is a sound, a pull. It’s fire. Then I’m at the house, at the bottom of the stairs looking up. Coach bracing me up on one side, Angus the other. Those stairs. Me bottoming out in a helpless bawl. Coach almost falling apart too, saying not to worry, Dr. Watts would come in the morning and he’d get me right. Angus quietly making up Mr. Dick’s downstairs sofa bed for me. The cripple bed.
Here, Demon presents his memory as a flashback, using present tense to describe the scene as it happened to him. After a member of the opposing team tackles Demon, gravely injuring his leg, he recalls "trying to watch the game" and "losing focus." Using metaphors, he describes the pain he felt as "a sound," "a pull," and "fire." These metaphors suggest that Demon was totally overwhelmed by his pain, which he feels in a multi-sensory manner, even hearing it. His recollections take the series of a flash of images as he falls into and out of consciousness. This flashback presents a pivotal experience in Demon's teenage years. This injury ultimately leads Demon to drop out of high school and develop an addiction to the painkillers that he is prescribed by Dr. Watts to manage his pain.
Related Themes:
