Critically acknowledged for deftly weaving together humor and despair in his stories, Johnson’s execution of this combination in “Emergency” creates layers of complexity, humanizing his characters and drawing the reader into the setting and situation. Johnson establishes his dark humor from the outset, painting Georgie as a ridiculous figure who weeps as he mops up fake blood and then “drop[s] his mop and ben[ds] over in the posture of a child soiling its diapers” (58). Through this narration, Fuckhead is remembering and portraying a harsh world, but his creation of such humorous similes mitigates the bleakness.

When Terrence Weber enters the hospital with a knife in his eye, his phlegmatic attitude illuminates the characters around him and emphasizes the complacency of the unnamed community. When the nurse tells Terrence he should lie down, he replies, “Okay, I’m certainly ready for something like that” (59), and when she asks if he’d like to call the police, he tells her, “Not unless I die” (60). The other characters seem mildly bemused by the extreme situation, and here Johnson uses humor to craft their reactions, highlighting their inadequacies and disdain for each other.