Denis
Johnson’s short story “Emergency” is a frightful look into the fictional world
of charlatan doctors who are in desperate need of malpractice insurance. Oh, and did I mention that their drug
addicts? Well, sort of. Georgie appears to be the veteran drug
user between the two “protagonists.” However, the narrator does seem to casually digest the
various prescriptions in the workplace towards the beginning of the story. The humor of the story, while not
obvious, is somehow perversely fulfilled in the narrative. (Especially now that I imagine Jack
Black playing the role of Georgie.)
Georgie, in light of the medical emergency occurring around him, appears
to be clueless. And high. The drugs do secure his insanity.
The
only section of the story that disturbed me was the scenes with the
bunnies. The visuals and word
choices of the author were helping me see the baby bunnies way too
clearly. Not to say that I didn’t
enjoy this story element, I simply believe that Johnson does an incredible job
giving the reader a feeling of discomfort. The humorous, yet tragic scene portrays the images of the
fetus-like rodents, as the narrator admits to their deaths by his hand. “They weren’t any bigger than my
fingers, but everything was there,” the narrator explains. “Little feet!
Eyelids! Even whiskers!”
I
really appreciated the way the story was written. The structure and the word choice parallel the ramblings of
a person under the influence. The
frequent hallucinations and general confusion of the order of events and
subject matters in the story were brilliant. For all we know the Hardee character who was introduced at
the very end of the story was a hallucination. A lot of pieces don’t seem to fall into place or are
unexplained. Perhaps this is the
point. The perspective of the
storytelling is much too twisted and inaccurate to secure a strong and concise
version. For this, I gained a lot
from the story. It allowed me to
use my imagination, and dive into the lunacy.
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