The protagonists in “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,”“Isabelle,”“The Wavemaker Falters,” and “Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz” are all male and unnamed. It can be inferred that all four are white. The protagonists in the first and third stories work at theme parks; the protagonist of “Isabelle” is a pre-teen at the story’s beginning and takes care of Isabelle while being a car salesman by the story’s end; and the protagonist of “Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz” runs a virtual-reality franchise. (The protagonist of “Bounty” is also unnamed and discussed later in this section.)

As a group, all four of these narrators suffer from guilt. The title story’s protagonist is guilty that he can’t provide a better life for his family, so he agrees to hiring a gun-wielding lunatic to keep the theme park safe, while also disposing of said lunatic’s victims. The protagonist in “Isabelle” suffers from guilt after seeing her languishing in a state-run home. The protagonist in “The Wavemaker Falters” suffers guilt in relation to his role in the death of a child. The final protagonist harbors guilt from fighting with his wife on the day a drunk driver killed her.

Of this quartet, only the protagonist from “Isabelle” seems to end up okay.