The Lone Wolf
Shortly after arriving in Charleston, Shepard is approached by a beggar called Diane. He portrays her as a lone wolf howling in the dark, which emphasizes her state of depression and loneliness after losing her boyfriend: "Diane was waiting for me at the bus stop across the street, barking to the moon about how her boyfriend had left her for his homosexual lover."
Marion Square
When Shepard visits Marion Square with Marco, he creates an image of prosperity and happiness, which he uses as motivation to keep working and collecting money to be able to join the happy crowd: "But, if nothing else, observing the lifestyles on Marion Square gave us hope and aspiration and something to look forward to. For some reason, there was something magical about sitting there by the fountain with a mere $50 between me and broke. As we watched everybody else running and giggling and seemingly prospering."
The Quest to Fast Company
Trying to find Fast Company to apply for a job there, Shepard gets lost because he is not familiar with the streets of Charleston. He describes his journey as a "quest," which creates a sense of adventure and overcoming challenging obstacles. Later, he even compares it to a dangerous mission in Vietnam, which emphasizes how difficult he finds it to get to the company: "It took me two and a half hours by bus and foot to get there through bushes and over fences. I was in Vietnam, attempting to attack the enemy’s headquarters all by myself. I was trying to find a shortcut, but it only prolonged my expedition."
The Shelter
When Sarge shows Shepard around the shelter, he starts with the Transitional Dormitory, which is described as a pleasant place to stay; spacious, clean, and equipped with amenities such as a TV and computers: "The floor was not dusty, the magazines on the coffee table were not flung all over the place, and it didn’t smell anything like what I had anticipated." However, when Shepard is led to the room for the general population, he creates a sense of disgust by appealing to a range of senses: "Reaching the immediate conclusion that daily showers were not enforced, my first instinct was to pull my shirt over my nose in order to extinguish the reeking stale body odor, but I didn’t want to give off the impression that I was a softy before I even truly began my journey. Nonetheless, I was nauseated." Moreover, the noise level is high because of the overpopulation of the room: "Oh, God, the snoring. There’s nothing harmonious about the chorus of a room full of men snoring in unison."
