The extract on page 130-133 in the novel depicts Joe’s extreme mental state at the time of his killing of Dorcas. The internal stream of consciousness that makes up this section of the book comes just after the narrator talks about the changes in Joe from 1917-1925. The extract starts as an almost uncomfortably intimate inspection of Dorcas’ physical appearance. Joe tells us “She had long hair and bad skin” and that he “liked it like that”; this could show that he likes her imperfections, because it might mean that other people could like her less, allowing him to have complete ownership over her. There were “little half moons clustered underneath her cheekbones”, which could be indentations from her (or possibly Joe’s nails) signifying some sort of harm that has been done. Although in a metaphorical sense, the marks on her face could be the damaging things that have happened in her life showing signs on her skin; she is aging more quickly because of them. The hoofmarks could also have a connection with Joe’s repeated mentions of tracks and trails; this reading of the extract could see the phrase “I tracked Dorcas from borough to borough” as if Joe were a hunter, stalking Dorcas, his prey. On page 120 the narrator is talking about a singer and the “way the city spins you”, suggesting “you can’t get off the track the city spins for you”. The metaphor of the track emphasises the claustrophobia of the city and the fact that it can change the decisions a person makes. Joe obsessively talks about the “track” and how it “begins to talk to you”. This personification is Joe deflecting the responsibility away from himself. The track makes him gravitate towards Dorcas, and eventually Joe finds himself “in a crowded room aiming a bullet at her heart”, then the “gun went thuh!” The choice of word for the sound of the gunshot is odd, as it is a very soft sounding word and does not portray the loud crack expected. This perhaps conveys Joe’s misunderstanding of the seriousness of the act. The disassociation of Joe from the gunshot paired with the cumulative sentences portray his rising panic and shock after being faced with what he has done. “The crowd didn’t scatter like the flock of redwings they looked like” and Joe feels claustrophobic as they “stayed pressed in, locked together by the steam of their dancing”; the entrapment he is feeling may also be felt when he is following the tr