I chose to study the words fear, money, and catastrophe, along with their varying forms. Throughout the novel, these words seem to be dominant motivational factors and ultimately set the plot into motion. Each of these three words are used in various ways to describe and reveal characteristics about the protagonist, Mitchell, and the minor characters such as Charnoble, Elsa, Rikki, and Nybuster. Unfortunately, with the limited abilities of the computer and with Amazon’s word search, it is impossible to specifically search these words based on the context in which they are used. Consequently, I will have to be your guide in trying to shed some light here.

The first word I chose to research was FEAR (fearful, feared, and fears):

The total number of times used: FIFTY!

The first time the word, FEAR, appears is on page 20 when Mitchell states, “Their food was FEAR, and they ate ravenously, lip-smackingly.”

Again on page 25- “Mitchell’s FEAR, on the other hand was real, hot, viral.”

And once again on page 57 – “He obviously was not adept at selling FEAR.”

Throughout the novel it is very easy to come to the conclusion that Mitchell is an incredibly fearful guy and, therefore, fear is used frequently. Although there is some truth behind this, the word is used in many different ways and not always associated with Mitchell. In many ways it is objective as seen on page 20 in saying that “their food was fear.” We also see that the word is also possessive in which the novel frequently refers to “Mitchell’s fear.” However fear is also referred to as a career in the case of Charmoble.

The second word I chose was MONEY:

The total number of times used: Eighteen.

It is worth mentioning that when I researched MONEY, fear was often found on the same page. For example on page 25 Charnoble repeats the word MONEY four times in a row later down the page saying that fear was a way to separate clients from their MONEY. Throughout the novel we see a relationship that exists between these words.

Lastly, I chose to study CATASTROPHE (catastrophic):

The total number of times used: TWENTY-TWO

As previously stated, there exists a resemblance in the way in which these words are used and their relationship with one another. In the appearance of this word, it is commonly associated with coverage or insurance, such as CATASTROPHE coverage or CATASTROPHE insurance. On page 25 the word is placed just four lines down from the word MONEY, clearly associating the two.

As a whole it is easy to tell that these words are connected with one another to motivate the characters and further push the plot.