Analysis Of Emergency By Denis Johnson

Why do so many people rely on drugs to forget about all their problems that they face? In Denis Johnson’s short story Emergency the topic is highly discussed, as how the characters use drugs in order to not think about their normal everyday life and how they try to escape reality by getting high off the pills from their work. In doing so, Johnson presents a conflict of man vs. himself, in which he tries to forget about his problems and act as if everything is okay when in reality it is not. Fuckhead doesn’t have a good life, and he is making it harder on himself for the fact that he continues to screw up and do drugs, but doesn’t think about the consequences it can face him later on in life.
In the story “Emergency” Denis Johnson says, “I …show more content…
Fuckhead is so high that he believes that he sees angels that are not really there, he thinks he can finally be saved from doing so much drugs and can finally rest in peace, but little did he know that he is so damn high, that sometimes he thinks the things he sees are real, although his mind is playing tricks because all of the drugs he has done. Johnson as well uses, “Little feet! Eyelids! Even Whiskers! Deceased!” he is using the literary device of symbols and imagery because it symbolizes that fuckhead has run out of chances and won’t be able to turn his life around. He also uses imagery because this quote is stating how these baby bunnies are all in pieces as well as fuckheads life. Fuckhead ended up killing the rabbits because he forgot about them, unfortunately everything that fuckhead does or touch gets screwed up, and he has bad luck no matter what it is. With the literary devices of imagery and tone we can relate to this story by being able to see what the character sees from his point of view. It is extremely irrelevant how other people can get so high and think that they are seeing these things that are …show more content…
Fuckhead doesn’t care how people call him because he knows they are right and won’t try to deny it, even though he tries to be a good person he knows that everything that he will do, will eventually turn into trash. Johnson says, “I save lives,” the author is using a literary device by foreshadowing that fuckhead was wrong in how he believed Georgie was, in reality Georgie is completely different even though he always gets high. Fuckhead is a mistake in life and even Georgie knows that he can do good in the world unlike fuckhead who always does something that causes him bad consequences, but Georgie can be high and he is still able to see reality and know what really is there. Johnson uses the literary devices of tone and foreshadow by showing us how some people can get so messed up in life while others can succeed, but it makes us feel sorrow for those who can’t be a bigger person and not achieve things in