Structure

The short story “Crusader Rabbit” by Jess Mowry is structured around a single event in the life of Raglan and Jeremy – a day on which they find the body of a baby in a dumpster. The plot is structured around the relationship between the two characte…

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Beginning

The short story begins in media res, in the middle of a conversation between the two characters while they are picking trash cans: “ ‘You could be my dad.’ Jeremy stood, waist-deep in the dumpster, knee-deep in garbage, arms slimed to the elbows from burrowing, and dropped three beer cans to the buckled asphalt.” (ll. 1-5)

The exposition explains the characters’ actions and sets the …

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Middle

The rising action follows the interactions between the two characters while they are picking up trash cans.

Raglan offers Jeremy a cigarette, which seems strange considering Jeremy’s age: “ ‘Want a smoke?’ Jeremy watched through lowered lashes as Raglan's eyes changed, not so much softening as going light-years away.” (ll. 35-38). However, when the characters go in the car with the trash cans, we find out that Jeremy is a drug addict: “…a tiny rock bottle, with gray-brown powder in the bottom instead of crack crystals; a puff of cotton; candle stub; flame-tarnished spoon, and needle, its point protected by a chunk of Styrofoam.” (ll. 60-63)

Through dialogue, we find out a background story about Raglan, whose nickname was given to him by his dad and is inspired by a cartoon: “ ‘My dad started callin' me that. It's s'posed to be from some old-time cartoon, when he was just a little kid. 'Crusader Rabbit.' ” (ll. 77-79)

Dialogue hints at a backstory and reveals that Jeremy is a long–time addict trying to quit, but …