Main Themes

- the relationship mother-son

The relationship of mother and son, Doris and Vernon Little, is present throughout the book. It is a special one, not in a sense of unique and loving but in a strange way special because she gives Vernon all this pain but he is forgiving.

- trust/distrust

Trust is a thing, which is desperately needed when in a situation like Vernon’s. He is learning about trust and especially distrust the hard way.

- abuse of power

The abuse of power is the thing that is somewhat the cause of the whole problem. The abuse of power, which resulted in the abuse of Jesus, which resulted in bloodshed in the school gave birth to the whole story. Vaine Gurie, probably unconscious of her abuse of power for not listening to what Vernon had to say about the incident in school in the very beginning of Vernon’s long journey to justice.

- publicity

Publicity is something, which changes the whole community of Martirio temporarily. It’s what Lally is all about and it’s what makes Vernon’s life to hell. Publicity makes Taylor lie, cheat and have sex for it.

Words: 191

The author’s main message or purpose

DBC Pierre probably wants, as many authors, to entertain. But I don’t think that’s his main purpose. His main purpose was maybe to give the reader the perspective of how it could be if you’re an outsider in our society. An outsider who has difficulty to defend himself because of his personality and because he was already judged upon. Maybe this is the way the author wants to show how cruel the people are to others without even knowing if they are guilty or not. It could be that the author uses to book to express his criticism for the judicial system, as we know it now and what it could become. I also believe that DBC Pierre wants to show how the media, through it’s constant hunger for better quotes, will sacrifice peoples lives for their success. And I think he also wants to show us how beautiful Mexico is, probably because he must have had some good memories when he lived there. And one thing, which came to my mind was the question, why would the author choose the name Martirio for the town Vernon is from, considering that Martirio is the Spanish word for martyrdom.

Words: 164

Description of a Character

Vernon’s Mom, Doris Eleanor Little, is a woman who’ll probably not get very far in her life. She’s not very bright or farsighted and more interested in the neighbor’s new fridge than in life’s purpose. But she shouldn’t be underestimated. She killed her husband with a gun and even got away with it. You wouldn’t think that a woman who falls for a guy like Lally or talks all this unnecessary, silly stuff with her girlfriends would kill a guy a grown-man cold-blooded with a firearm and even manages somehow to make the carcass disappear. You’d rather think she’d poison her husband with nail polisher and then tell the cops that she didn’t notice anything unusual. Despite of that “accomplishment” I still dislike her very much. Not only because of stupidity but also of her disloyalty to her own son. And the sad thing is that she is not disloyal because she chose not to support her son or because she hated him. No she’s so concerned with herself and her silly stuff that she can’t manage to be loyal.

Words: 181

How do I feel while reading a section of the book

When Vernon was in Mexico in this little village with Pelajo and Victor on the beach I was feeling hope. I don’t like these too obvious happy-endings in novels and movies but deep inside I still want them. I don’t know why but I probably want the world to be good so I want happy-endings. I just don’t want to see them coming when they’re still a hundred miles away. So I was hoping that Vernon would get happy in that white house on the beach side in Mexico. He would live a simple but a happy life. He would have some chickens, a little field of corn, a hog, and maybe a goat in a little shed. He would help Pelajo with his truck business to get a little extra money. I’m not shure about Taylor, it would have been to perfect if she came to live with him. And if everything is perfect something must be wrong. So I’d rather have seen him falling in love with a Mexican girl. Anyway I got my happy-end eventually I’m quite happy with it.

Words: 184

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Words: 180

Poem

Jesus killed these guys, he did, I don’t know why,
I didn’t,
so for fuck’s sake why am I in prison?!
So listen, I’m dreaming of loving and kissing
having this spot blown up with nitro-glycerine
while my mom’s home babbling about new kitchens.

Isn’t the world unjust?!
Wrong friend, mad fuck,
wrong place, wrong day, bad, bad luck.

Words: 59

Diary Entry

Dear Diary,

That was a fucked up day. Jesus just shot everybody like they were some god dam rabbits. That was some crazy shit and that’s the reason why I was at the police station. Vaine Gurie was busting my ass, not literally, but she still was. She was babbling some crap about some black/white stuff and that was better not moving in the grey zone, which I was obviously. So it wasn’t looking good for me. She was yapping and yapping about me lying every time I tried to explain why I was innocent. This fat-assed authority was so concerned with her truth/lie theory that she wasn’t able to get what the fuck I was saying. This shit is bound to happen to a small-town outsider who is crapping in his pants and on top of that has only one friend, a friend who’ll massacre your local school. Anyway I got temporarily saved by Pam ‘cause she was concerned about my stomach and about her own too, I guess.

Words: 170

Relationship between two characters

The relationship between Vern and Lally is not an average one. First you would think that this is a relationship that could develop to a friendship. Even I thought that Lally is a nice guy who’s helping a guy who got in trouble and at the same time he’s getting a good story out of it. Even Vernon trusted him and told him that he should tell the truth through the media. After I’ve seen Lally’s way of telling the truth I thought Vernon is going to kill him. But Lally stays in Vernon’s life like a bad ghost and continues to worsen his situation. Even though Lally does all these awful things to him I’m astonished that he doesn’t express more hatred towards him. I like to think of Lally as black cloud hanging over Vernon. I was really glad at the end that Vernon got his sweet revenge over this guy is destroying lives for his own benefit.

Words: 160

Recount - Location and Settings






This is where the fifteen year old Vernon Little lives with his mom, Doris Eleanor Little. Seventeen Beula Drive, Martirio, Texas, United States.






This is the Police Station of Martirio. This is where Deputy Vaine Gurie works and where he got interview the first time and got “hijacked” by Pam.








This is the Border to Mexico that Vernon crossed and where he ran in to trouble with the Mexican Border official.





This is the Truck of Pelayo with whom Vernon drove through Mexico. On the back of the truck there are the words painted "Me Ves Y Suffres", which means "you see me and suffer".







This is the beautiful Beach in Mexico. Right on the left side just out of the picture is the beautiful little house at the beach. Right here is the home town of Pelayo and Victor.


Words: 140