But what's it mean," Roy cried, agonized. "What is it for?" "Not for anything. It exists. - Parke Godwin

Paranoia, the common cold of neurosis. The paranoiac, perceiving all external stimuli as threat, needs to see his enemies, not merely sense their external presence. Being imaginary, these threats must be fleshed out to visible targets, the more clearly defined the better.

Got no time for games," Charity told the dog. "Hope you don't bite."
"Not at all. The hound yawned to his ears. But beware the owner. He thinks.

Hard men and women, from Barion’s firsthand recollection: not always thinking of God but seeing Him hard as themselves when they did. Their descendants much the same, not as hard but needing that peculiarly American form of religious ecstasy blended of poverty, ignorance, degenerated mysticism, collected injuries and the need for vengeance.