The Runner Symbolism

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In the short-fiction story, “The Runner” by Don DeLilo is about is about a young man out for a jog in his local park. It is told in a third objective point of view. He and other people in the park witness what appears to be a kidnapping. He only sees some of it when a man’s car runs into a curb and runs rapidly. There is another woman who is a witness. She tells the man that the kidnapper took the son away from his mother, and the father is the one who did it. The runner asks how does she know and she replies with, “It’s all around us, isn’t it? They have babies before they’re ready. They don’t know what they’re getting into. It’s one problem after another. Then they split up or the father gets in trouble with the police. Don’t we see it

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