Does anyone else feel that Bangley, Cima, and the rest of the post-apocalyptic crew may all be Hig’s delusions? There is so much emphasis on the impact that the encephalitis had on Hig’s brain function at the beginning of the book and, later on, the lack of clarity between dreams and reality that it makes me wonder.
I wonder if the lack of quotation marks is a nod to the fact that these conversations are not true dialogue, but all figments of Hig’s imagination. Similarly, does the lack of subjects in many of the sentences show that it’s unclear who is doing the actions because, again, it’s all just delusion?
Could it perhaps be that the various people that Bangley/Hig had to kill are all real, and Hig’s psyche invented Bangley as a way of coping with the gruesome murders he had to commit? Could Cima be an invention to help him find comfort and companionship in this bleak and lonely world after the passing of Jasper?
by Katertod