The book, "We Were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates, is the story of an "all American family" that falls apart after their daughter is raped. The father, who once had a successful roofing company, lets his business slide and devotes his life to alcohol and law suits, and the three brothers either abandon the family or try to find a method of gaining vengeance for their sister. This particular excerpt describes a scene by …showed first 75 words of 986 total…

…showed last 75 words of 986 total…his life one understands that this was just the author's way of setting the scene. Judd is a character if many traits, he is psychologically adult, somewhat insecure with himself, one who is considerate for his family and their happiness, and acceptant of the future, these traits are emphasized with knowing what Judd if thinking, the story being written from a first-person narrative point of view, and the heavy detail when it came to foreshadowing.