Dry Fire is a novel set in the southern United States in the late twentieth century. The novel chronicles the lives of several characters who enter the police academy at the same time, following them through a grueling training stage until each officer reaches solo status. The stress and danger involved in police situations is omnipresent. / Narrator and main character, Abigail Fitzpatrick, enters the police academy in her early thirties after having spent eight years as a paramedic. Issues of gender, privacy, and harassment plague Fitzpatrick throughout the novel as she attempts to integrate a traditionally fraternal order. Fitzpatrick's friendship with less competent and morally shaky Officer Sonny Morelli tests the limits of loyalty and professional integrity. The cost is steep for Fitzpatrick who must learn to balance these two values. In addition, Fitzpatrick is attempting to come to terms with a recent break-up. Her female lover, a police investigator, has moved out in the hope of obtaining a promotion to sergeant. Structurally, the novel is divided into four major sections. The first five chapters deal with training, where the action is forced by an outside agency--the academy. Tension and momentum build in chapters six through ten which deal with a concentrated fourteen-week training period on the streets. The circle of action and interaction expands to include Fitzpatrick's relationship with her trainers, with other officers, and with the public at large. Chapters eleven through fifteen pick up two years later. By now the characters have been firmly established and tension is further developed through personal interactions as friendship and ethics collide. In the final four chapters, the novel comes full circle when Fitzpatrick, now a seasoned officer, becomes a trainer of rookies. The struggles of other characters intensify, intersecting violently with Fitzpatrick's life, altering her perceptions and shaping who she becomes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: A, page: 1619. / Major Professor: Jerome Stern. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77702 |
| Contributors | Lewis, Catherine A., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 315 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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