Emergency

What are the various meanings of the story’s title? What is the emergency of the story? Are there multiple emergencies?

Analyze the exchange between Georgie and Fuckhead about how Fuckhead got his name. How does his name characterize the narrator, and why is his dialogue with Georgie important to understanding the story?

How does friendship operate in the story? How do Fuckhead and Georgie view themselves and each other? What values do they share? How are they different? Why do they choose to spend time together?

What role do the nurse and the doctor play in the story? How do they clarify or illuminate the other characters, the situation, and/or the setting of the story?

Why does Johnson set the first half of the story, and the final paragraphs, in a hospital? How does this setting amplify the story’s themes?

What role does Terrence Weber play in the story? Why does Johnson include him? How does his injury add to the thematic concerns of the story?

What role does Hardee play in the story? Why does Johnson include him? How do his situation and dialogue with Georgie and Fuckhead add to the thematic concerns of the story?

How does Fuckhead change (or not change) over the course of the story? How is your understanding of him different (or the same) by the end of the story? What do you think Johnson most wants you to understand about the character?