After the Shot Drops

“It never feels right. Never feels like your words will make a difference, like they’ll make his family feel better or stop anyone else from dying for no reason.”

This illustrates the setting of Whitman, New Jersey, where street violence is a common occurrence. It also reflects the theme of The Trap of Poverty; the cycle of violence in impoverished settings often leaves residents feeling helpless to change the situation. Throughout the novel, both Nasir and Bunny struggle with the limitations of language, questioning to what extent words can improve a bad situation or delay the inevitable.

“A lot of people hate that we’ve got these jets flying past every few minutes, but I don’t mind. It’s like God’s constant reminder that there’s more out there than this.”

This quote exemplifies Bunny’s optimism and ambition. Unlike others, he is consistently on the lookout for ways to improve his lot in life by finding opportunities and capitalizing on them. It also includes the simile “like God’s constant reminder.” Both protagonists often use similes and metaphors to relate their personal feelings to the reader.

“You wish the world would throw him a break. Instead it keeps trying to break him.”

Nasir is reflecting on the many disadvantages and hardships Wallace faces and concludes that the world is a hostile place for him and people like him. It also uses the rhetorical device antanaclasis, using the same word (“break”) in two contrasting ways. In the first instance, a “break” is a positive instance of good luck or a respite from hardship. In the second, “break” refers to metaphorically destroying a person.