Vince thought madly of July Fourth, Race a child again and sitting in his lap to watch the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air: sky flares shining in his child’s delighted, inky eyes.”
-- Narrator ("Throttle (with Stephen King)" )

Importance: This quote encapsulates the points of tension in “Throttle,” like war and freedom, and honor and dishonor. The syntax reflects Vince’s mad thought, pulling the reader into the past and surging into the fireworks display. The representation of fireworks through lines of “The Star-Spangled Banner” evokes Vince’s veteran status, but the specific lines chosen harkens to the violence of war. The abrupt stop functions to shift the focus from a veteran to a child, who feels “delighted” by the beautiful display. Indeed, this entire image is brought on by the sight of Laughlin’s tanker exploding at Vince’s hands. And Vince’s son, the child in the image, grows to become...