The Unbreakable Code

“Any eyes skimming past would judge him as average, unexceptional. That’s how it was and how it had always been. People underestimated him. That was mistake.”

In this passage, the Phoenix describes the disparity between how he sees himself and how others see him. The passage uses repetition of synonymous words like “average” and “unexceptional” to emphasize the bitterness the Phoenix feels toward those judgments. This passage also sets up a sense of dramatic irony, as the reader knows that the Phoenix plans to prove his specialness by doing something destructive that the other characters in the novel do not anticipate.

“She imagined him saying, It’s okay, kid. Crowds make me anxious, too.”

In this line, Emily has an imaginary conversation with a bookmark picture of famed San Francisco journalist Herb Caen. This line reveals Emily’s inner life and the way she deeply connects with literature, deriving comfort, advice, and a feeling of community from authors, living and dead.

“Her skin prickled, electrified. This was the feeling she got when a book sucked her into the zone of no return.”

The language “prickled, electrified” uses tactile and kinetic verbs to intensify Emily’s emotional immersion in reading. Describing it as a “zone of no return” elevates her love of books as an almost transcendent, transformative experience.