The title of this story refers to a character who Fuckhead, the narrator, visits to get some opium. Fuckhead learns that Dundun has shot another character named McInnes who is fortunately still alive. Fuckhead goes inside of a house to see for himself that Mcinnes has been shot. It looks pretty bad so Fuckhead decides that he will drive Mcinnes to the hospital with Dundun and Jack Hotel tagging along.
Mcinnes dies in the backseat before Fuckhead makes it to the hospital. Dundun says to throw Mcinnes out of the car. Fuckhead and Dundun are disturbed that Mcinnes has died but they pretend not to care.The final paragraphs of this brief story add some background to Dundun's character:
"His left hand didn't know what his right hand was doing. It was only that certain important connections had been burned through. If I opened up your head and ran a hot soldering iron around in your brain, I might turn you into someone like that." (51).
Fuckhead believes that Dundun is not in control of his actions. Fuckhead says that people like Dundun are created through a process similar to a soldering iron being ran through someones brain, burning the important connections, a disturbing image to say the least. Fuckehad wants us to understand that dangerous people like Dundun do not exist in a vacuum. They are created by other people.
The lesson of this story is that a first impressions are not necessarily correct. It's tragic that Mcinnes dies and it is normal to want to blame the person who shot him -- but Johnson reminds us that blame usually lies with much more than just one person. Trying to understand why Dundun is the way he is is more honorable a task than writing him off as a sadistic murderer. Most people would choose the latter but Fuckhead and Johnson seem to think that this choice fails to capture the entire story. I believe this is the main lesson that Johnson hopes to teach his readers.
Other people have written online about "Dundun". Check out this short but insightful piece from treehousemag.com. As Denis Johnson teaches us, it is better to understand something from multiple perspectives than it is to go with your gut reaction. If you have any thoughts or questions related to "Dundun" please leave them in a comment. Thanks for reading.
BUY HERE:
https://amzn.to/2P5hdXF
Mcinnes dies in the backseat before Fuckhead makes it to the hospital. Dundun says to throw Mcinnes out of the car. Fuckhead and Dundun are disturbed that Mcinnes has died but they pretend not to care.The final paragraphs of this brief story add some background to Dundun's character:
"His left hand didn't know what his right hand was doing. It was only that certain important connections had been burned through. If I opened up your head and ran a hot soldering iron around in your brain, I might turn you into someone like that." (51).
Fuckhead believes that Dundun is not in control of his actions. Fuckhead says that people like Dundun are created through a process similar to a soldering iron being ran through someones brain, burning the important connections, a disturbing image to say the least. Fuckehad wants us to understand that dangerous people like Dundun do not exist in a vacuum. They are created by other people.
The lesson of this story is that a first impressions are not necessarily correct. It's tragic that Mcinnes dies and it is normal to want to blame the person who shot him -- but Johnson reminds us that blame usually lies with much more than just one person. Trying to understand why Dundun is the way he is is more honorable a task than writing him off as a sadistic murderer. Most people would choose the latter but Fuckhead and Johnson seem to think that this choice fails to capture the entire story. I believe this is the main lesson that Johnson hopes to teach his readers.
Other people have written online about "Dundun". Check out this short but insightful piece from treehousemag.com. As Denis Johnson teaches us, it is better to understand something from multiple perspectives than it is to go with your gut reaction. If you have any thoughts or questions related to "Dundun" please leave them in a comment. Thanks for reading.
BUY HERE:
https://amzn.to/2P5hdXF
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