I think that part of Flash's problem is that he has an inner struggle between what he knows is right and wrong. In the beginning of the story it seems like he invites Thelma and Magdalena inside against his better judgment. "Quickly, before he could change his mind, before no! no! intervened, he invited Thelma and little Magdalena inside.(pg466)"
He fights with himself again when he first considers whether or not to offer them lemonade. "This, an opportunity for him to confront goodness, to look innocence direct in the eye, should not be violated.(pg467)" This line made me think that he was fighting to keep the darker side of himself from taking over.
The line "Hadn't he wakened in the night to a pounding heart and a taste of bile with the premonition that something, one of his things , was to happen soon?(pg468) makes me think that he is mentally unstable.
Flash's behavior is also very erratic. Once Thelma asks if he's been baptized he begins to lose the calm facade he had been projecting. He becomes even more angry when she mentions satan, but once she leaves he's begging her to stay. The line "Satan is here! In me! He speaks through me! It Isn't me!(pg474) is more proof of his inner struggle.
When his sister comes home we find out that Flash's real name is Harvey. We also learn that his friend's death by heroin overdose is part of what fuels his drug addiction.
Is there any significance in the fact that his sister's coffee table is a grave marker?
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