38 pages • 1 hour read
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The first thing that any reader will notice about Naked Lunch is its unusual and distinctive style. In fact, this can make the novel initially hard to follow. In part, this is due to Burroughs’s attempt to capture the way of speaking common in the world of drug addiction and dealing, as in the extensive use of slang. For example, Lee refers to “stool pigeons” (3), or police informers; a “grass” (5), or someone who informs to the authorities; a “sawski” (4), or $20; “junk” (6), or heroin; and the “fuzz” (7), or the police. Likewise, characters have multiple names or pseudonyms. For example, Hassan is known, according to Lee, as “The Shoe Store Kid, alias Wrong Way Marv, alias After Birth Leary, alias Slunky Pete” (131) and several other names. Slang and pseudonyms help protect and conceal drug users from the authorities. Equally, knowledge of them (or lack thereof) helps distinguish those who are truly part of the using community. For instance, at the novel’s start, “a square who wants to come on hip […] talks about ‘pod’” (3); because he gets the lingo wrong, the man marks himself out as an outsider.
Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
Addiction
View Collection
American Literature
View Collection
Banned Books Week
View Collection
Books Made into Movies
View Collection
Books on Justice & Injustice
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Order & Chaos
View Collection
Politics & Government
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
Satire
View Collection
The Best of "Best Book" Lists
View Collection