Content Warning: This section refers to addiction.

Allusions to mob archetypes, tropes, and imagery are present throughout “Quitters, Inc.” and are the main satirical element of the text, drawing comparisons between behavioral therapy and the brutish, inhuman interests of organized crime.

Despite appearing at first to be a benevolent, clean-cut, and altruistic organization, clear references to mob activity immediately appear when Morrison enters Quitters, Inc. and become more explicit as the text progresses. These references include Donatti’s characterization and name, as well as other names like Junk and Mort “Three Fingers” Minelli; Quitters, Inc.’s backstory as an organization dealing with gambling, sex work, and black-market trading; and references to pistol-whipping, breaking limbs, and other forms of violence. Indeed, Morrison is given an offer he literally can’t refuse; by the time he meets Donatti, he is already considered a Quitters, Inc. client and unable to back out.

This motif ties back to the story’s thematic interest in the horror of pragmatism, taking two groups of people that are both notoriously known for “pragmatic” approaches to their work (one much maligned and the other widely celebrated) and asking if the two are really that different.