Metaphors in Tales of the Madman Underground

           In the book "Tales of the Madman Underground" by John Barnes I think that there are some deep metaphors in this book. The book tells that tale of Karl Shoemaker. A boerd high school student with a dead father, an impulsive hippie mother, bullys, and a crazy melodramatic ELA teacher named Mr Gratz. He is part of a group therapy group called the Madmen Underground. He is attempting to simply be normal in what he calls "operation be f*****g normal". He meets a genus girl named Marti who says that he should be himself. He has five jobs and lives in a house that is basically a huge litter box. I think that the people around him are metaphors for what was going on at the time
         
            Let's start with his crazy mom. She could represent the danger of alcohol. She owes Karl about $2000 in I.O.U money,mostly spent on liquor. She used to be a perfectly good mother and then her husband dies of an unnamed disease. She has what she calls a "coming out party" about 4 months after her husbands death. This is the "start of booze and cats". She also represents the bad side of the hippy movement in the 70s and how people should do things that are age appropriate. Beth is muck to old to be having parties with boozing,weed and sex.
         
            I also mentioned Mr. Gratz Karl's crazy melodramatic ELA teacher. He was also a Vietnam vet. He says things like "whoever doesn't read Huckleberry Finn is not a true American". He also tears up in the national anthem, is bipolar and over exaggerates everything about literature and poetry. I think he is like the opposite of Beth. the is very careful,calculated and is a Vietnam Vet. He is the supporters of the Vietnam war in the 70's. He is the blind patriots in this country who loves everything American and doesn't care about anything that isn't American. If he were to go to other countries he would be defined as an "ugly American" or an American who disrespects the culture of the country he's in. Although, he isn't a total jerk. He offers to talk with Karl in the morning instead of him going to group therapy. He also says to his students that in the book Huckleberry Finn that there is the word n****r in it. He doesn't encourage his students saying it outside the classroom. While he's crazy he's not a crazy racist.
     
              Overall the characters in the book Tales of the madman underground show different perspectives of America in 1973. His mom is the crazy strung-out-peace-love-and-music hippie part of the country. Meanwhile Mr. Gratz is the America-loving-char-the-Vietnamese part of the country.

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