Rog Phillips

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Pages: 4
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Stories can often lead readers down rabbit holes due to unreliable narrators. When the storyteller cannot be trusted, it becomes difficult to understand the reality of the situation. In Rog Phillips’ “The Yellow Pill”, one of the characters cannot be trusted, but since Jerry provides stronger evidence, the reader can determine that the story is taking place in outer space. To begin, the story takes place in space because Jerry, a civilian, commits 1st degree murder but is not kept locked down. The story states, “The card said the man's name was Gerald Bocek and that he had shot and killed five people in a supermarket, and had killed one officer and wounded two others before being captured” (Phillips 1). According to findlaw.com, “Federal law allows …show more content…
It's okay, of course, but. that is. I didn't think you could! Take a patient out of the ward at City Hospital and transport him around town" (Phillips 5). Also, Jerry is one of the names on a card that has requested to be Gar’s patient. “Dr. Cedric Elton slipped into his office by the back entrance, shucked off his topcoat and hid it in the small, narrow-doored closet, then picked up the neatly piled patient cards his receptionist, Helena Fitzroy, had placed on the corner of his desk. There were only four, but there could have been a hundred if he accepted everyone who asked to be his patient. “His eyes flicked over the top card.” The card said the man’s name was Gerald Bocek” (Phillips 1). This evidence emphasizes that Jerry didn’t murder multiple people, but rather killed the Venusian lizards because he didn’t suffer the consequences of a 1st degree murder and also had the ability to request a psychiatrist. In addition, the story takes place in space because Gar, the deranged human, shows how Jerry is the one in the right sense of mind. Jerry claims, “You’ve surrounded yourself with all sorts of protective delusions” (Phillips 2). Jerry also claims, “Probably you even think you have a beautiful
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