Deadeye Dick

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The novel's main character, Rudy Waltz, nicknamed Deadeye Dick, commits accidental manslaughter as a child and lives his whole life seeking forgiveness for it. He was so traumatized by the events directly after the murder that he lives life as a "neuter," neither homosexual nor heterosexual. He tells the story of his life as a middle-aged man transplanted in Haiti, which symbolizes New York City, until the end, when the stream of time of the story catches up with him. At this point, he confronts an event that has been suggested and referred to throughout the novel. The generic Midwestern town of Midland City, Ohio (also the setting of Breakfast of Champions) in which Rudy was raised is virtually destroyed by a neutron bomb. At the ending of the book, it appears that Rudy, while he may not have fully come to terms with his actions, has at least come to live with them. ( Edited by hvernon)

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