Acceleration By Graham Mcnamee: Character Analysis

In life, conflict is a natural sense of relations between two people. Conflict is always going to occur in life from seeing someone to meeting them. However, with conflict comes theme as they are interconnected. Among the conflicts is between two characters named Duncan and Roach in the novel Acceleration by Graham Mcnamee. The conflict Duncan has with himself also leads to a conflict with Roach. Among this, the theme turns restless and ominous as a result of the conflict.

Firstly, Duncan and Roach look to settle their differences physically. However, Duncan has two conflicts: one externally with Roach and one internally with himself. Before the first quote, Duncan feels devastated Roach got to his victim

Stumbling over to the window, I lean there, sucking in the humid night air. I have to hold myself up on the window ledge, my legs are shivering so bad. I can’t stop seeing her, those eyes watching me even after her face is gone. I can’t do this! Can’t do this anymore! There’s no way I’m going to find him.” (Mcnamee, 108). This quote here shows Duncan experiencing internal conflict within himself. As a result, the type of conflict person vs. self is achieved. Duncan realizes he failed to save the victim Roach was after. In addition, Duncan keeps telling himself he can no longer continue on his hunt for Roach; however at the same time, he still does deep down; one part of him wants to stop while the other part wants to continue, thus the person vs self conflict is achieved. Duncan and Roach finally meet physically. The second quote shows previous that the two characters would engage in a physical fight as a result of the conflict built up. According to the quote, it states, “Swinging the bat with everything I’ve got. I catch him in the shoulder. He grunts, and I haul back and whack him in the ribs. I pull back again for

For instance, many of the themes are directly influenced by the conflicts. The themes preented in relation to the conflicts are restless and ominous. In the following example, Duncon finds Roach’s disary and is therefore using the information given to find Roach’s next victim before he does. The quote states, “Find his targets and I might just find Roach, I have their times, subway stops, and what they look like. So I track them down, watch, and wait for them to show. It’s not a good plan, but it’s the only one I’ve got. In a way that’s too horrible to think about right now, they’re the bait. I just have to find them before he bites.” (Mcnamee, 59). The quote here shows Duncan to be fantially searching and trying to find Roach’s next victim before he gets to them first. As a result, the theme here is se as restless; the theme also highlights Duncan trying to desperately use the clues he has on Roach’s victims to save them. In addition, the theme shows Duncan having no time for breaks, but only time for search and rescue, therefore the theme is restless. Duncan sees only shadows inside a four-foot metal bar in the corner of Roach’s basement. Duncan experiences immense fear that something in the shadow would grab him. The following quote states, “I swing the door open, jumping back. Empty. Nothing but shadows. My head is pounding, nerves shivering, waiting for the