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The Rube
Carl is the friend of Joselito, who is addicted to drugs and comes down with a cough that can likely be attributed to tuberculosis. Carl accompanies Joselito to multiple sanitariums to treat his illness, and he often asks the doctors about the possibility for “chemical treatment” instead, a behavior that alludes to Carl’s interest in acquiring certain drugs and illustrates the role that the pharmaceutical industry plays in drug addiction. At the end of the vignette, Carl nearly overdoses outside of a sanitarium and experiences a few disturbing hallucinations. When Carl regains consciousness, he notices a group of boys are calling out to him from the street. They are addressing him as “Joselito,” suggesting that Carl and Joselito may be the same person. Similarly, a character called Carl Peterson appears in a later vignette and may perhaps be the same character as Joselito’s friend Carl, though this remains ambiguous as well.
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Carl Character Timeline in Naked Lunch
The timeline below shows where the character Carl appears in Naked Lunch. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
5. Joselito
...diagnoses Joselito with “catarro de los pulmones” (inflamed lungs), which is likely tuberculosis. Joselito’s friend Carl speaks with the doctor, who explains to Carl that the lesions are in both lungs....
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What seems to be a little later, at the entrance to the new sanitarium, Carl hallucinates a scene in which he experiences a heroin overdose. He can see himself lying...
(full context)
