Clean Edward Delaney Analysis

Imprisonment within Revenge
As humans, we have emotions that sometimes get the best of us. People tend to seek revenge in the heat of the moment or with a well carried out plan. The revenge, however, doesn't always bring that closure that is expected. Committing an act of revenge is deemed morally wrong. In “Clean” by Edward J. Delaney, the unnamed protagonist murders a peer out of jealousy in drunken rage, spur-of-moment decision. Though the protagonist in “Clean” gets away with committing an act of murder, he lives with the constant reminder of his actions. Edward J. Delany uses characterization, flashback and tragedy to present how the protagonist deals with conflicts of obsession, …show more content…
At the time of the crime, the protagonist didn’t think things through. The unnamed protagonist’s friend persuaded him to get into a confrontation with Barry, which led him to commit murder. The author uses characterization to directly describe the unnamed protagonist. For example, in “Clean” it’s stated that the protagonist “obsesses” and “worries” (Delaney). The protagonist spends his time “reading articles about DNA” and panics when he sees police cars (Delaney). Because of his worrying, the protagonist lives such a careful life that he neglects his role as a husband while being aware of it. The protagonist’s wife cheats on him and confronts him; “I love you, [she said] but [you’re] a dull, passionless person. You have no fire” (Delaney). Ironically the protagonist is aware that he has failed as a husband. Secondly, another example that depicts a direct description of the unnamed protagonist is “the careful, boring man you had sculpted yourself into. .. No passion at all” …show more content…
When the protagonist receives a phone call from a friend named Dennis, who helped bury Barry, Dennis implies he may go to authorities to confess the crime, the protagonist feels relieved (Delaney). This shows that the protagonist regrets his actions and feels relief that he has never felt since committing his crime. The example of flashback is presented when the unnamed protagonist states "had the three of you gone to the police that night, explained you'd been in a fight that went of control, you probably would have been out by the age of eighteen" (Delaney). This shows this could have been the protagonist's way of breaking from his imprisonment within his "life". “When those unbidden memories occurred, those predawn panics, you pushed deeper into your studies.. you moved farther west still” (Delaney). The guilt and memories pushed the protaginst to distance himself from his family