The friends have a large influence on the narrator. Almost everything we learn about the narrator is because of the friends’ actions. From the beginning, the narrator is suspicious and cautious because he knows his friends like to play practical jokes. He states, “My friends were fond of practical jokes. I do not care to know people who are not.” His friends are very kind to him and are continuously laughing, which makes him even more suspicious. Here, he describes what he thinks of his friends: “They must have planned some good joke. Assuredly I am to be the victim of the joke. Attention!” He is so paranoid by his friends’ actions that he ends up causing the incident they all laugh about.