The book is titled from the main character’s name. You could call this self titling (the book being in first person) arrogant and self-centered- even before inserting the middle name of ‘God’ and plot-line of his accusation of mass murder. Already Vernon seems to be starting to become an antihero, backed by the reader but doubted by most people in the book.

‘Forget about before – even murderers are loved by their families, you know…’ Ma has the love hate relationship with her son. With absolutely unthoughtful attempts at reassuring her son (such as this one) she is a prime example of someone, even as close as she is with her Son, doubts the truth and believes the harsh allegations surrounding his involvement with the school shooting and mass murder his best friend was in. This alone could make her an antihero present in the Novel. She sticks the the main characters side all along but also doubts and gives in easily to her son’s supposed actions. Along with that she ignores Vernon’s cry for help and takes her priorities in a man making profit from broadcasting and portraying Vernon in a negative light for the public eye. Many selfish actions undertake her ability to be a hero in the story.

The Author uses speech, more particularly swearing to show Vernon in a light that is nowhere near perfect. Permanent complaints and pessimistic comments throughout the book bring the reader onto personal level with the character. Using the word ‘fucken’ (a colloquialism) a total of 407 times, a clean and idealistic view of a classic hero has simply gone down the drain. Other remarks and descriptions of ‘knife-turners like my ole lady’ use metaphors such as: ‘[spend their] waking hours connecting s*** into a humongous web, just like spiders.’ Comparisons like this show a huge amount of spite and anger towards others and portray Vernon as the antihero we are looking for.