Dead End In Norvelt

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of animal death and death.

“I knew we wouldn’t be fighting the Japanese anymore because they were now our friends, but it was good to use movie enemies for target practice because Dad said I had to get ready to fight off the Russian Commies who had already sneaked into the country and were planning to launch a surprise attack.”

Jack is constantly Confronting Death and Violence. At the drive-in, he watches a movie about World War II where the Americans battle the Japanese. Since the year is now 1962, Jack pretends that the Japanese are the Russian communists—America’s latest enemy. The lack of punctuation—there’s only one comma—creates a breathless tone that represents the relentlessness of war.

“Oh mercy! Miss Volker, what have you done to yourself?”

Jack’s cry heightens the comedic scene where he believes Miss Volker is burning off her hands in a pot of scalding water. The diction—“oh mercy”—reinforces Jack’s character. He’s conscientious and aware that he shouldn’t use curse words.

“That UFO must have zapped him with a ray gun. He’s a freak! One of these days he’ll flip his lid and hurt someone, so stay out of his way.”

Dad uses offensive, stigmatizing language (“He’s a freak!”) and idiomatic expressions (“flip his lid”) to describe Mr. Spizz. The statement “That UFO must have zapped him with a ray gun” is hyperbolic, as it exaggerates his threat to an absurd level, assuming that aliens altered him. Despite its humorous tone, it also serves as foreshadowing. Mr. Spizz will “hurt” people later in the novel, which makes Dad’s warning to “stay out of his way” apt.