Charles Bukowski has written this short story (Son of Satan). Charles Bukowski was a very famous writer and was famous for describing the atmosphere in L.A., which is why I think the story takes place in L.A. It takes place in the poor part of L.A for the reason that the main character on page 13 “walks in the bedroom and sits on the edge of the bed and looks down at his cheap shoes”. They cannot afford good shoes, so the story takes place in the poor area.
That is also why it seems to me that Charles is the main character in this short story. I ponder this is something he has experienced and then have chosen to write about, to tell such a serious story. But Charles Bukowski is also very famous for his very strange stories so it could be both things. But I believe it is something Charles has experienced.
And the environment leads us up to the themes. I think there are a lot of themes in this story. But one of the themes is to tell how a 12 years old, who is living in a poor neighborhood and smoke cigarettes with his friends is thinking and how he is behaving. The reason of the boys’ behavior could have something to do with the social heritage and because of the fact that there is no one to look after the three boys. In my view the main themes are to tell that kids who lives in a poor area and no family to say what is right and what is wrong is most likely to become a “Son of Satan”.
Our narrator in this story is a first person narrator. We do not know what our first person’s name is (I believe it is Charles). The relationship between the boys is strange after the fleeing of Morgan and Hass, leaving our lead character to himself, after the hanging of Simpsons.
So they can have fun with each other and all the time try to impress one another, but when there are problems they do not stand behind each other’s back and help each other. Instead they are left alone to deal with the problems themselves. And as the narrator writes, they cannot show weakness, as it would make them look weak. Which leads to group pressure as another theme.
The main character is unanimous, but he cannot say he is unanimous, as it seems to that will make him look weak. So he do not want to hang him, but if he do Morgan and Hass still want to be friends with him as they consider him as cool.
The story is ending with the surviving of Simpsons, but the dad finds Simpson and now he is screaming at him (the main character) and he is hiding himself under the bed. He suddenly starts to laugh of panic, which makes the dad scream, “You are surely the Son of Satan, you are not my son”. Which is also why the short story is called Son of Satan. There is something wrong with our main character, he could be mentally unstable. I suppose it could be an affect of his surroundings and the environment he lives in. The eternal struggle to not appear weak and end up as a loner could also be an affect. So you could say it is a mix of different factors.