Part 3 tells the story of Tommy and Suzy. The story is the shortest of the six parts and exemplifies the conversational tone of the novel, as the narrator is prone to random asides and digressions. The structure of the story is non-chronological, beginning with the announcement of the party to celebrate the wedding and christening and then backtracking to fill in details about Tommy’s friends and his love of motorcycles. To this end, the story ends with Tommy riding away with a girl who is introduced in the final paragraphs; after an entire story explaining the nature of the party, the resolution is Tommy leaving the party with a new character.

Like the novel’s characters, the structure and prose of the story is unfocused and informal. The story of Tommy and Suzy thus functions as a humorous aside in a novel laden with tragedy and pessimism. The humor and the lack of focus alleviate the heaviness of the stories of Tralala and Georgette, providing a lighter caesura that hints at the optimism and happiness which is part of these people’s lives but that is less frequently portrayed in the novel. Even so, there is a chthonic irony to the entire story; even in this relatively lighthearted interlude, Suzy favors Tommy not because of Tommy’s virtues but because of his lack of vices—“He never bothered nobody and hed never beaterup or anythin so I guess she wanted ta get married” (49)—and Tommy rides off with another woman.

The story of Tralala markedly differs from the story of Tommy and Suzy. While the married couple’s story is structured like a humorous anecdote, Tralala’s life takes the tone of a cautionary tale. Simultaneously, the story provides a glimpse of a world beyond the impoverished streets of Brooklyn, and the contrast between the two only adds to the tragedy. Tralala is a sex worker who insists that she does not care about sex. When she meets a military officer, however, she is treated to a fabulous lifestyle involving expensive clothes, dinners, and gifts. Tralala gets to see how rich people live, and—for a moment—she gets to enjoy this lifestyle. Though Tralala may be indifferent to sex, she is not indifferent to the lifestyle changes that this sex affords her. When she briefly experiences the life of a rich woman, the thought of returning to poverty is terrifying. For all Tralala’s insistence that she does not care about sex, sex has given her an insight into a wealthy world. After the officer leaves, sex takes on a new meaning for Tralala. She is no longer indifferent; she now actively resents all sex that does not return her to a lavish lifestyle.

The ending of Tralala’s story is one of the most violent and brutal moments in the book. After returning to the under-resourced borough, she finds no way to earn the money that might return her to the expensive lifestyle she briefly enjoyed. She tries to dim her resentment with drugs and alcohol, trying to push the negative thoughts from her mind and return to indifference. Tralala discovers that this is impossible, and she begins a self-destructive binge that leaves her barely aware of her surroundings. Rather than destroying herself, however, she is taken advantage of by the men in the diner. The world turns on Tralala before she can fully punish herself, providing an external physical pain that matches her internal struggles. The key fact about Tralala’s violent rape is that it is the fault of men, rather than Tralala. She is raped and beaten, hurt by other people far more than she was able to hurt herself. The brutal incident is a reminder that the individual is meaningless in the context of the novel; for all the intense feelings of self-loathing and pain that Tralala experienced, she cannot hope to match the excruciating punishment inflicted on her by the world. Tralala’s fate underscores that the world of Last Exit to Brooklyn is crueler and more punishing than any internal conflict and that the individual will always be made a victim of the society.