Murder
Ernest Cunningham’s first line in the prologue means that murder is a dominant issue in the novel. He states, "Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once." These two sentences reiterate the thesis that has already been alluded to in the title. Death dominates the plot of the novel. The narrator intends to explain how each and every one of his family members has been involved in murder and what ensued after the murders.
Police Officers
Police officers are involved in the plot because there are murders that should be reported and investigated. Blue uniforms are symbols that distinguish police officers from civilians. Ernest recounts, “The last time either of us had been in a room full of cops was at the funeral, among a sea of blue uniforms.” Ernest makes this remark after attempting to convince his brother Michael about the need to inform the police about his accident. Michael is not for it because he knows that the police may fail to understand, which would put him in a legal predicament. Police officers are involved in the plot because there are murders that should be reported and investigated. Blue uniforms are symbols that distinguish police officers from civilians.
Gunshots
Gunshots are symbolic of violence that results in murder. Michael attributes Alan's death to gunshots. Ernest states, “I’d only seen gunshots in the movies. The man's neck had a lump in it as if he'd swallowed a golf ball." Ernest is unsure about Michael's claim that Alan' had been shot because his familiarity with gunshots ends with what he has seen in movies. Nevertheless, gunshots are deadly; when they hit the wrong organs, one's life ends.
