The story makes use of flashbacks to reveal Parker’s history before his divine encounter and inner transformation. While the story opens in the present day, with Parker and his wife on their porch, it moves swiftly into a flashback to reveal how Parker met and courted his wife, beginning: “He had first seen her one morning when his truck broke down” (511). Within this flashback is inserted another flashback, this one exploring what led Parker to begin tattooing himself. It begins: “Parker was fourteen when he saw a man in a fair, tattooed from head to foot” (512) Eventually the second flashback is completed and the story returns to the story of Parker’s courtship of his wife. While there are other mentions of Parker’s past within the story, these two flashbacks are complete scenes that showcase the events that have led up to Parker’s conversion.

The Southern dialect used in the story is an example of colloquialism. It establishes the story’s setting and grounds it in the Southern gothic genre. Characters use particular syntax and slang, such as “You don’t talk no filth here” (511) and, “That ain’t being saved” (518).