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The narrator holds a mundane overnight job as a clerk at a hospital emergency room in 1973, serving as both an observer of the story’s characters and a participant in its events. As readers follow his movements within the hospital and beyond, his drug use and behavior suggest that he is both unreliable and guilty of escapist efforts. His hallucinations blur the lines between reality and illusion, occasionally leaving readers unsure of what is real.
Recounting events of the story years after they occurred, the narrator occasionally struggles to recall details accurately and presents the narrative in a detached manner. He seems unfazed by the world's absurdities, including the pressures of the emergency room and the political context of the period. For instance, he casually describes a man arriving at 3:30 a.m. with a knife lodged in his eye. This man can still see out of his injured eye, yet the narrator fails to provide any additional explanation, likely because he doesn’t understand what is happening or why. He also seems to avoid admitting the realities of the draft and war, save through his hallucinations at the drive-in and eventual contact with Hardee, the AWOL soldier.
Despite his perpetual state of escapist intoxication, the narrator occasionally discovers moments of beauty within his surroundings. Referred to only by his obscene derogatory nickname—Fuckhead—the narrator resigns himself to the label's implications, seemingly accepting it as a reflection of his perceived shortcomings.
