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In Ghost, gunshots symbolize fear and past trauma that Ghost feels he must run away from. Three years prior to the beginning of the novel, Ghost and his mother, Terri, flee their home because Ghost’s father has drunk too much and become violent. As they are running away, Ghost’s father fires a pistol at them. His shot misses, but it frightens them. Ghost’s internalizes the noise of the gunshot as something to be feared as well as a reminder of the most traumatic night of his life. Later in the novel, gunshots are also heard at Ghost’s first track meet to signal the start of the race. Mentally, Ghost notes that a gunshot is the perfect sound to get people to run, thinking back to what happened to him as a kid. However, when Ghost hears the gunshot that begins his race, he finally feels that he is running toward something rather than away from it. As such, the gunshot—while still representing trauma and violence—becomes a catalyst for something more positive by the end of the book.
Gunshots Quotes in Ghost
The Ghost quotes below all refer to the symbol of Gunshots. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1
Quotes
It was three years ago when my dad lost it. When the liquor made him meaner than he’d ever been. Every other night he would become a different person, like he’d morph into someone crazy, but this one night my mother decided to finally fight back.
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I haven’t seen my dad since. Ma said the cops said that when they got to the house, he was sitting outside on the steps, shirtless, with the pistol beside him, guzzling beer, eating sunflower seeds, waiting. Like he wanted to get caught. Like it was no big deal. They gave him ten years in prison, and to be honest, I don’t know if I’m happy about that or not. Sometimes, I wish he would’ve gotten forever in jail. Other times, I wish he was home on the couch, watching the game, shaking seeds in his hand. Either way, one thing is for sure: that was the night I learned how to run.
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Chapter 3
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“I ain’t saying that. I’ve definitely been scared of somebody before. Real scared,” I added, thinking about how loud a gun sounds when it’s fired in a small room. “That’s how come I know how to run so fast. But now, the only person I’m scared of, other than my mother . . . I mean, like I do things, I know ain’t cool, but even though I know they ain’t cool, like beating on Brandon, all of a sudden I’m doing it anyway, y’know? So I guess . . . I guess the only other person I’m really scared of, maybe . . . is me.”
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Chapter 4
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“And as of yesterday, this kid. Castle Cran—”
“Ghost,” I cut him off before he could even get the shaw out. “Just call me Ghost.”
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Chapter 5
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So I banged. Still nothing. Then I started trippin’. Like how when you at the swimming pool on the hottest day of summer, and you jump in and it’s cool, and then you take one step too far and suddenly you’re in the deep end, and things ain’t so cool no more. Because you can’t swim. That’s how I felt. Like I was drowning. Like I was filling up with water. Like this place, this weird little room that had saved my life, now felt like it was gonna take it.
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Chapter 10
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The sound of the gun cocking. The sound of the door unlocking. Heart pounding. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Silence. This. Is. It.
And then . . . BOOM!
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Get the entire Ghost LitChart as a printable PDF.
Gunshots Symbol Timeline in Ghost
The timeline below shows where the symbol Gunshots appears in Ghost. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...him to get out of the apartment. On the way out the door, Ghost’s father fired a pistol at him and his mother, though luckily the shot missed. Ghost and Terri escaped the...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...the race is about to begin. For a moment, there is dead silence. Then, a gunshot goes off, and the race begins.
(full context)
