Essay Questions

What makes Ed first decide to check out one of the addresses on the first card he receives?

Earlier, before going to the first house, Ed muses about the worthlessness of his existence so far. He prefaces the information about himself he is about to reveal to the reader by first mentioning the lofty achievements made by some famous people in history when they were the same age: nineteen. Bob Dylan was already a stage performer. Salvador Dali had produced some great works of art. Joan of Arc was public enemy number one for much of the Europe. As he contemplates whether or not to pursue the mysteries that lie in wait at the addresses and times written on the first card, he thinks back to these three and adds, “And at nineteen, Ed Kennedy found that first card in the mail.” Ed recognizes that he doesn’t know exactly what the cards and it really doesn’t even matter. What he realizes most of all in that moment of contemplation is that something serious need to happen with his life and he has reached the point where it is riskier to not take a chance than it is to fly blindly into danger.

What is the thematic point of the Sledge Game?

The Sledge Game is a no-rules, everything-goes soccer match held once a year that is a very big deal for a very few people in Ed’s hometown. It is pointlessly violent and, as Ed observes, “a preposterous game of soccer played…played barefoot by idiots like Marv.” Ed also confesses that he’s been conned into taking part for the last three years and hyperbolically adds that every year he’s nearly ended up with a broken neck. His lack of interest this year is particularly aggravating to Marv and so Ed allows him to be sucked into it again. He gets lined up against the biggest guy on the field whom he misogynistically denigrates with a female nickname: Big Mimi. Eventually, Ed winds up playing dirty and knocks him out of the game with a nasty injury that inspires everyone on the field to lob insults toward him about every aspect. The game symbolizes the way that society sucks people into behavior they don’t want to do in the first place and regret having done afterward. The game represents the way that Ed’s has allowed his life to swirl into vortex of mediocrity and underachievement.