Analyse af Andrew Vachss' novelle 'The Hostage'

“The Hostage” Is a short story written by Andrew Vachss, in 1989. It presents Walker a hostage negotiator, who observes a young man named Mark Weston, holding his mother at gunpoint, threatening to kill her, who is in her wheelchair, unable to move. The detective allows Walker to take the next steps. Walker recalls returning from the Vietnam war, starting as a cop. Moving to many different departments because he kills all his targets, then his gun was taken from him. A guy named Mark stands on a building in Brooklyn, with a gun in his hand pointed at his mom. The detective Walker has in his past shot a thirteen-year-old boy, and then his gun was taken. The detective tries to come up to Mark, and I happen, they make a deal about that if Mark let go of her mother, the cops will drop every charge against him, and there will be no jail. He does that, and Walker follows his mother down the stairs to the cops. When Walker came up again, they had a cigarette together, and he handed the gun to Walker, then walker shot Mark so he could come in a better place.

The main character in the short story “Hostage” is the negotiator Walker. In the story, they reveal that he was a sniper in the Vietnam war, and he has been working for the police ever since his return from the front. We’ve got told that he has worked in many different departments, like vice, narcotics, and SWAT. He has shot a thirteen-year-old boy, and after the episode, his gun was taken from him. Because of Walker's mentally ill, Walker currently works as a negotiator to avoid being dismissed from the police force.