Now Is Not the Time to Panic

In making the poster, Zeke and Frankie set out to create unique and meaningful art. They sense that the photocopier could be instrumental in achieving this but produce several failed attempts before Zeke decides that their art must be something that can be made public. He instructs Frankie that the words should be “something really weird. Like, it doesn’t mean anything, but also, like, kind of means something” (37). By this, he feels Frankie should not try too hard to generate a phrase with intentional, obvious significance; the meaning will come later and will be unintentional on the artists’ parts. In many respects, this is exactly what happens, as not only do they find the phrase she generates compelling but portions of the phrase grow to represent the impact the poster’s notoriety has on both of them. The phrase “the edge”—taken from Frankie’s Nancy Drew fan-fiction novel—can be interpreted in multiple ways but suggests a limit or a boundary, something that cannot or should not be surpassed or may be dangerous to cross. “Shantytown” suggests a run-down, ramshackle grouping of houses. Though Frankie does not necessarily have Coalfield itself in mind when she generates this phrase, tonally it fits with the misfit status she and Zeke share. It is also somewhat reminiscent of the abandoned house at which Coalfield teenagers hang out, conjuring a secret space that exists beyond the reaches of adult control. The word “fugitives” comes to be, perhaps, the most important part of the phrase to Frankie. It speaks to the otherness she feels, not only in Coalfield but as a teenager in general. The term grows increasingly powerful for her as she reclaims it from the negative denotation of a criminal fleeing the law and reframes it as someone who upsets social norms in a productive way. Ironically, Zeke comes to fear the legal ramifications of the poster, and in this way the denotation of the term becomes fitting. Arguably, too, keeping their identity hidden is an attempt to run from or escape from a rigid society.

The image that Zeke draws on the poster is inspired by the sentences that Frankie generates. In some respects, it is a rather literal interpretation of her words, depicting a run-down group of shacks beneath large power lines and surrounded by “detritus” (42). The large, disembodied hands above the shanties, however, are what Frankie finds most compelling. In the weeks and years to come, the words and the image of the hands will haunt her the most. The hands are depicted in a way that seems dangerous and threatening; they suggest the authority of those who come to oppose the poster.

Finally, the drops of blood that Zeke and Frankie add to the poster further contribute to its symbolism. The ritual of offering up their own blood is reminiscent of “blood bonds” commonly done to signify the connection between two friends. Importantly, it is also suggestive of a satanic ritual. The blood is a reminder of how the poster is often interpreted in ways they neither intended nor imagined.