Fever Beach

“‘I got the carpy tuna bad, so I could use some help.’ Figgo extended one hand for inspection. It appeared totally functional.”

Figgo’s malapropism—substituting the nonsensical “carpy tuna” for “carpal tunnel”—characterizes him as not particularly bright and is an element of the narrative’s absurd humor and its critique of The Nature of Political Extremism. The added detail from the narrator—“it appeared totally functional”—critiques his unwarranted victim mentality, satirizing a quality often ascribed broadly to the American right.

“Viva was distracted by his teeth, which looked like dentures for a Clydesdale.”

Viva’s hyperbolic simile contributes to the story’s absurd humor by exaggerating the size and artificiality of Clure’s teeth. Her observation characterizes Viva as funny, sharp-witted, and somewhat judgmental. The suggestion that Clure has had extensive work done to enhance his teeth’s appearance characterizes Clure as both privileged and more concerned with appearances than authenticity.

“Since that day, he had hewn to a domestic routine that mimicked laziness but was actually him conserving energy for the next patriotic storming, which was bound to come.”

Jonas Onus is a caricature of hypocrisy, pretending to exalt so-called “traditional” values while neglecting his children and their mothers, living off a false disability claim, and spending most of his time listening to right-wing radio in his truck. The use of satirically elevated diction like “hewn” and “domestic routine,” along with emotionally charged language like “patriotic storming,” emphasizes his rebranding of his motives as elevated ones. Passages like this one portray Onus as yet another of Hiaasen’s negative examples of