I shall now address question 3: "How do plot and characterization work together in this story?" The first fun plot twist is Kenny's little shooting spree. He shoots a post, a tree, a dog, and appears to be considering shooting Tub as well. This gives the character the sense that Kenny is a bit of a jerk, one who makes rash decisions, and is not quite entirely mentally stable. Tub is also developed in that he decides it is a much safer decision to shoot his friend than to use words or step out of the line of fire. Tub apparently lacks trust and thinks very little of his friends, at this point apparently.
Next up in the plotline, it is revealed that the farmer fellow asked Kenny to shoot the dog, apparently, which actually changes Kenny's image from crazy gun nut to quasi-compassionate gun nut. Tub now appears to be the slightly crazy one. Obviously Kenny wasn't really going to shoot him, I mean obviously. At least that's how it appears to the reader.
Also, Frank and Tub have some Man Talk male bonding time in the bar and the roadhouse. Frank declares that he is in love with a 15 year old girl. I'll just go ahead and say that this little plot twist alone just makes Frank seem awkward. Maybe the author is just trying to say something adorable like "love is blind," blah blah blah, love can still tell age. Tub also has a little spill-the-guts session, and declares that his obesity problem is not actually glandular, but that he actually just eats too much. Shocker. This development leads to a knew side of Tub, not that he doesn't like being fat, but that he just doesn't care for being dishonest.
However, all of these little character development moments in the plot pale in comparison to the overall plot as a whole: Frank and Tub go to a bar and eat pancakes while their friend is dying in the backseat of the truck. And also cold.
According to Kenny, these cure gunshot wounds.
So you and Christian both said "Shocker." And about the same thing, too. Just so you know.
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