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"… [H]is lip started to tremblin’ and his Adam’s apple was galloping up and down his neck like a racehorse. Ah bet he’s wore out half a dozen Adam’s apples since Spunk’s been on the job with Lena. That’s all he’ll do. He’ll be back heah after a while swallowin’ an’ workin’ his lips like he wants to say somethin’ an’ can’t."

At the end of section one of the story, Elijah Mosley tells the loungers about seeing Joe attempt to confront Spunk over Lena, only to have Lena choose Spunk, looking at Joe with disgust and Spunk with love. At this point in the story, Joe has just left with his razor, planning to confront Spunk again. This passage illustrates both Joe’s nervous timidity in the face of Spunk and his real suffering over the loss of Lena. Although eventually Elijah and the loungers will come to view Joe as brave, at this point in the story, his reputation among the men of the town is at its lowest point, as demonstrated here by Elijah’s merciless description of his wearing out his Adam’s apple in panic while never taking real action to stand up to Spunk or demand that Lena return to him. Elijah’s prediction that Joe’s latest attempt will end the same as the previous one reflects his firm belief in Joe’s cowardice at the beginning of the story.

"… Ah b’leeve Joe’s ready for Spunk an’ a’int skeered any more—yas, Ah, b’leeve Joe pushed ‘im mahself."

In the final section of the story, Elijah has completely changed his view of Joe’s bravery, as shown by his prediction to Elijah that Joe will fight Spunk in the afterlife. While Elijah and the loungers begin the story mocking Joe for his weakness, in the second part of the story, their respect for Joe grows as his spirit haunts Spunk and increasingly intimidates the once-powerful man. Here, Elijah explains that he believes Joe’s ghost killed Spunk as part of their ongoing competition to prove who is the bigger man, just as Spunk killed Joe in the first part of the story. Although the men began the story convinced Joe’s cowardice would never change, by the end of the story, even Elijah imagines the fight between the men in the afterlife as not a rout but a well-matched battle.

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