Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening

The expression “Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening” recurs at a hinge between Bunny Munro’s playful performance and a frightening, uncertain night. First delivered as a burst of song, it returns as Bunny faces a fallen, sparking power line and wonders whether the danger before him is real or a vision.

First Use

During a phone exchange with Georgia, Bunny jokes about electricity with “E-leck-tricity, baby! Zap, zap! Zip, zip!” After Georgia tells him he seemed like a nice kind of guy, he sings, “Thunderbolts and lightning! Very, very frightening!” Georgia addresses him, and he continues with another lyric. The expression belongs to a comic, theatrical run of musical lines rather than a sober description of immediate danger.

Repetition in the Storm

Later, after ending the call, Bunny notices that rainwater at his feet has joined into one pool. He takes Georgia’s address from the sales list in the glove compartment and drives into a depopulated street, where a blown-down power line writhes and throws sparks. He feels it is seeking him and believes it may kill him, yet also considers that he could be seeing a mirage or monstrous vision. Through his teeth, he repeats, “Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening,” then accelerates down the street.

Function and Contrast

The repeated line shifts from playful song to a strained response to perceived mortal danger. Its return makes the earlier electricity joke feel ominous in retrospect, while Bunny’s uncertainty about whether the power line is real leaves the scene balanced between physical threat and distorted perception. The expression thus binds the two moments without resolving that uncertainty: the same theatrical words accompany both his joking bravado and his fear.