Structure

The short story “A Shot in the Light” by Lion Goodman is structured around the single event in the life of the narrator – getting shot by a hitchhiker whom he met on the road. Although put in the form of a short story, note that the text is actually the rendering of a real-life event in the life of the author, Lion Goodman. As a short story, the text has an introduction, a short rising action, a climax, a falling action and a resolution, keeping, thus, the traditional structure of the plot.

Title

Before reading the story, the title may seem quite ambiguous. Initially, the title makes us think about the phrase “a shot in the dark”, which refers to an attempt of doing something without knowing anything about the outcome, or to an attempt with little chance of success.

...

Beginning

The exposition of the short story introduces readers to the setting...

...

Middle

In the short rising action, the narrator explains how he begins to trust Ray and how he even shares his belongings with the man.

The climax is reached suddenly, when Ray shoots the narrator:

...

Ending

The falling action reveals the narrator’s conversation with Ray and Ray’s decision to take him to the hospital, but also his sudden change of mind and decision to eventually kill him. Also, we get insight into Ray’s background and the reasons why he shot the narrator:

...