Like James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Southall's novel uses the literary device called "stream of consciousness" to tell Josh's story. All of the events and characters are seen through Josh's eyes. Southall records Josh's every fleeting thought, sensation, and impression as if he were inside Josh's mind. Josh's flashbacks provide much of the story's background. For example, although his mother, father, and sister never appear in the story, the reader forms opinions about them from events and conversations that Josh remembers.

Although a large part of the important action takes place within Josh's mind, the story does not lack external action.

Josh experiences emotional and physical upheaval during the short visit—his private poems are "stolen" and read; he witnesses both the bludgeoning death of a trapped rabbit and Laura's dangerous leap from the bridge; and he is generally pummeled...