52 pages • 1 hour read
Matthew QuickA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Leonard, having surveilled Asher Beal’s house, waits for him to arrive home at a precise time that evening. From Asher’s backyard Leonard watches his “target” (171) using his computer. He tries to forget Asher’s humanity and envisions shooting him seven times in the head and chest. Following the murder, Leonard will kill himself using the P-38’s final bullet.
Leonard compares the nighttime cold to death. He remembers Hamlet’s famous words about the afterlife, “What dreams / may come?” (173). Leonard would prefer “Übernothing” (174) rather than an afterlife.
Asher’s mother makes dinner through the Beals’ bay window. Leonard pretends he is watching a film called “Mrs. Beal Makes Her Perverted Son His Last Meal” (175). In a footnote, Leonard recalls Mrs. Beal’s inattentiveness throughout his and Asher’s friendship. Once, while Leonard ate with Asher and Mrs. Beal at a restaurant, Asher pranked the server. Mrs. Beal appeared not to notice Asher’s behavior, which Leonard watched with contempt.
By Matthew Quick
Diverse Voices (High School)
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Friendship
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Good & Evil
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Mental Illness
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National Suicide Prevention Month
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Realism
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Realistic Fiction (High School)
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Sexual Harassment & Violence
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The Future
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