Question

i climb up the embankment to get a better look at the car. it isnt even a car anymore. its a metal skeleton, without seats, without passengers. which means the rest of my family must have been thrown from the car like me. i brush off my hands onto my skirt and walk into the road to find them. i see dad first. even from several feet away, i can make out the protrusion of the pipe in his jacket pocket. \dad,\ i call, but as i walk toward him, the pavement grows slick and there are gray chunks of what looks like cauliflower. i know what im seeing right away but it somehow does not immediately connect back to my father. what springs into my mind are those news reports about tornadoes or fires, how theyll ravage one house but leave the one next door intact. pieces of my fathers brain are on the asphalt. but his pipe is in his left breast pocket. i find mom next. theres almost no blood on her, but her lips are already blue and the whites of her eyes are completely white. are you surprised the narrator is unharmed? why or why not? how does the narrators tone change?

Explanation:

For the first question, the narrator's survival could be seen as surprising given the car's destruction, but in literature, such plot - devices can be used to create contrast and drive the story forward. For the second question, the tone likely changes from initial shock and search for family to horror and despair upon seeing the father's remains and the mother's death.

Answer:

1. Answers may vary. One could say yes, as the car is a metal skeleton and it's unexpected for the narrator to be unharmed. Or no, as it's a literary device to continue the story.
2. The tone changes from shock and concern in the search to horror and despair upon discovery of the family's fate.