Black Flies, Post #3

In Shannon Burke’s novel, Black Flies, there is a large section of foreshadowing. In this fifth section of the book, Ollie Cross has developed tremendously as a paramedic. Much of this success, however, is due to his senior partner, Rutkovsky. A large issue arises at one point when the two of them respond to a call from a nursing home. Walking down the halls of the nursing home, they both find a dark, gloomy atmosphere. When they do get to their patient, they find that it is an old woman with liquid filling up her lungs. Rutkovsky says, “‘Don’t bother. Look at her, Cross. A hundred and one. We can’t do anything’” (66). The two paramedics are both faced with a hopeless situation, and all they can do is sit and wait. As Burke continues, it is obvious that there was a moral conflict about what was to be done. Rutkovsky makes his decision fairly quickly. Burke writes, “After a moment Rutkovsky reached over and lowered the head of the bed.” (66). By doing this, the paramedic was speeding up the patients suffocation as her lungs filled with liquid. This decision to euthanize the old woman shows a deep foreshadowing of events to come.

Following this section, the book moves more into Ollie Cross’ social life. Ollie talks about his girlfriend Clara, narrating how his relationship with her has been put on edge by his employment as a paramedic. At one point, Clara gives Ollie a ride to work and meets Rutkovsky. Burke writes, “She frowned immediately and I think she saw or imagined she saw Rutkovsky’s influence on me” (75). Ollie’s relationship is in trouble and becomes more unstable as the book moves forward. The effect of this is that Ollie becomes more entrenched in his life as a paramedic, separate from the ‘normal’ trends of life. Then Ollie talks about his parent’s visit to his apartment. This is an odd moment for Ollie because his parents haven’t seen him since the end of college. He explains, “Dad was silent, gruff, suspicious. Mom was smiling too much, trying to pretend she wasn’t intimidated” (78). Ollie’s life as a paramedic has a deep impact on his social life, and the way that this is drawn out is a great way that the author keeps the story interesting.