Analysis Of Car Crash While Hitchhiking, By Denis Johnson

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Recommended: Psychological conflict in literature

Contemporary literature is the sharing of timeless truths that still hold relevance in our current society in a current manner. There is a saying “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the Sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, n.d.). What the saying means is that anything we experience now has already been experienced and to believe that you have a fresh new idea, way of thinking, activity or anything than you are mistaken. Everything that can be thought of already has been. The story that I read during this session that reminds of this and has helped shape my view on contemporary literature is “Car Crash While Hitchhiking”, it was written by Denis Johnson. I’m going to explain how this story in …show more content…

“Car Crash While Hitchhiking” is told in the first person by a narrator who claims that he can perceive future events, the story jumps around in time. The story is primarily focused on an automobile accident and its aftermath. Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, the narrator maintains that during the thunderstorm he can distinctly identify every drop of rain, even going so far as to recognize each droplet by name. The line that captures this “I knew every raindrop by it’s’ name” (Johnson, 1992, p. 288) this magical heightened awareness is in part a side effect of the drugs he is on. Eventually a family a man and his wife, Janice, and their baby gives the narrator a ride, and he falls asleep. The family’s car is struck by a driver who has apparently fallen asleep at the wheel. Covered in blood and trying to carry the baby to safety, the narrator seeks help from a truck driver passing by. After telling the events of that night, the story moves several years ahead in the future where the narrator is admitted to a hospital for medical treatment of his substance abuse. At the time a nurse is injecting him with vitamins, and while hallucinating that he is in a rural back drop. Causing the narrator dis believe that he can help anyone, including the reader. Here is where the conclusion of this short story is reach leaving the reader with a bleak outlook on the

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