Exploration of How Ian McEwan Hooks the Reader in the Opening Three Chapters of Enduring Love
In McEwan's book Enduring Love, he uses a wide variety of techniques
to intrigue and hook the reader. He begins his story with the
startling and dramatic scenario of a hot air balloon accident. He
begins his story in medias res (in the middle of things). This is a
significantly effective technique as it plunges the reader into the
middle of a dramatic scenario without having dragged them through a
boring introduction first. This immediate element of excitement and
drama experienced by the reader in the beginning will no doubt have a
very positive first impression on the reader, as they will be absorbed
instantly by the fast pace and action.
McEwan also attempts to hook us with the use of a very interesting
narrator in the form of Joe Rose. He is a character who has the
technique of withholding details, which creates suspense - 'I'm
holding back, delaying the information'. This point is emphasized in
the fact that it takes three chapters for us to find out that Harry
Gadd came down safely. He is presented to us as a very imaginative,
deep thinking character, which we can see by the way he takes up
different perspectives on events - e.g. 'the buzzard'. He tells the
narrative in retrospect, which allows him to craft the narrative to
his desire by switching backwards and forwards on his thoughts giving
the reader a wider picture. But because he's telling the narrative in
retrospect he also seems to withhold information and some events are
unclear. For example we don't know if he was the first person to let
go of the balloon - 'around me -befo...
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...is much more believable.
The characters appearing in the novel are also quite intriguing and
will interest the reader. The most intriguing character will no doubt
be Jed Parry. He is a religious character and there are hints of him
being homosexual. There are big hints by Joe that he proves a major
role in the novel - 'had I known what this glance meant to him… I
would not have been so warm', although at present it is unclear, the
ominous signs are clearly present. He is also an unusual character,
which is denoted by his praying over the dead body of Logan. His phone
call to Joe at the end of chapter three gives it an almost cliffhanger
ending. Especially after his seemingly homosexual comments to Joe
readers will definitely be interested in this unusual character and
how he will play a major role in the narrative.
Pure Love in Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood, through a series of different situations, depicts the lives of typical people facing various obstacles in her short story “Happy Endings”. Despite their individual differences, the stories of each of the characters ultimately end in the same way. In her writing she clearly makes a point of commenting on how everybody dies in the same manner, regardless of their life experiences. Behind the obvious meaning of these seemingly pointless stories lies a deeper and more profound meaning. Love plays a central role in each story, and thus it seems that love is the ultimate goal in life.
Structure of the First Two Chapters of McEwan's Enduring Love My primary thoughts concerning Enduring love and specifically its structure were not complimentary. It seemed to me that McEwan had destroyed any imaginative or creative matter that was present with his overly analytical and sometimes sporadic thought processes. However, after due consideration I believe that quite the opposite is true. In writing Joe's cogitations he creates a very real atmosphere and also provides a stable base from which to consider human nature, and manipulate the reader, allowing him to build an ambience of tension as he humanises the narrative.
Typically, a novel contains four basic parts: a beginning, middle, climax, and the end. The beginning sets the tone for the book and introduces the reader to the characters and the setting. The majority of the novel comes from middle where the plot takes place. The plot is what usually captures the reader’s attention and allows the reader to become mentally involved. Next, is the climax of the story. This is the point in the book where everything comes together and the reader’s attention is at the fullest. Finally, there is the end. In the end of a book, the reader is typically left asking no questions, and satisfied with the outcome of the previous events. However, in the novel The Things They Carried the setup of the book is quite different. This book is written in a genre of literature called “metafiction.” “Metafiction” is a term given to fictional story in which the author makes the reader question what is fiction and what is reality. This is very important in the setup of the Tim’s writing because it forces the reader to draw his or her own conclusion about the story. However, this is not one story at all; instead, O’Brien writes the book as if each chapter were its own short story. Although all the chapters have relation to one another, when reading the book, the reader is compelled to keep reading. It is almost as if the reader is listening to a “soldier storyteller” over a long period of time.
When young and experimental, everyone remembers their first love and what it meant to them and how it shaped them. They are often fond memories of purity or naivety, however, sometimes, those experiences are haunting and leave permanent scars in people's hearts. “Coleman (1993)” tells the tragic love story of a female speaker and her lover. They appear to live out happy lives while keeping to themselves however, are separated later in the poem by a group of white boys who decide to murder her lover on a whim. Her interactions and thoughts about Coleman shape the fundamentals of the poem to the point that he is the driving force of this poem. His being is the purpose of Mary Karr’s piece of writing and her time with him and without
the opening scene of the play, as the readers later found out that he had
Gary Soto was born into a poor Mexican American family in Fresno, California. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford expensive clothing. It could be a big disappoint, to not have things that people want to have, especially when they can’t afford it. In “The Jacket”, he focuses on what he had to wear during his middle school years in this case his jacket. He portrays that the jacket, his mom bought him as a failure to him. He realizes that wearing the jacket made him have a rough childhood in school. As a matter of fact, growing up can be difficult because everyone is different. In my case, I remember that I too wore the same jacket for two whole school years in sixth and seventh-grade because my mom felt like I had to follow the dress code for sweaters which had to be blue. Although, I wore that sweater every day, I wouldn’t consider wearing that blue sweater a failure to me because it didn’t fail me to have good grades or great friends, but it did affect me by having some lack of confidence. The
Much like Lorraine Hansberry, Madeleine L’Engle believes that “the growth of love is not a straight line, but a series of hills and valleys.” Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Glass Menagerie, and Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias use the idea that even through struggles their characters show that love always endures. Although loving someone, who is not particularly loveable, is one of the most difficult parts of being human, it is possible by remembering that addictions can be reversed, blood is forever, and a ring is more than just an object.
The mid 19th century slavery setting of Beloved acts as a perfect breeding ground for tragedy and justifies the fragmented nature of individual's lives. The characters of Beloved are, in a way, defined by their foibles and insecurities. Sethe, Paul D, and Denver must confront and cope with the realities of an unjust history and an out-of-order world. The central conflict of the novel forces each of these protagonists to directly resolve his or her personal inhibitions and grow into a more composed human being. Had the events linking Paul, Sethe and Denver together been any less painful, perhaps "A life. Could be"(57). Sethe's broken sentences, while hopeful, convey a sense of doubt, and only the shadows are holding hands at the carnival. As a rule, Sethe is reluctant to rely on the advice or assistance of others, placing immense trust in her own abilities. Accepting such responsibility is a fantastic burden indeed, as it not only ostracizes her from a community who view her attitude "uncalledfor pride"(162) but brings her a constant regret and gu...
Cummings theme of how strong someones love can be appeals to readers minds, because everyone wants that connection with their partner, That undying love for one another. Some people long for a love...
Swale, Jill. "Losing grip: Jill Swale considers Ian McEwan's Enduring Love as an expression of postmodern confusion and uncertainty." The English Review 15.3 (2005): 18+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Oct. 2013.
In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, love proves to be a dangerous and destructive force. Upon learning that Sethe killed her daughter, Beloved, Paul D warns Sethe “Your love is too thick” (193). Morrison proved this statement to be true, as Sethe’s intense passion for her children lead to the loss of her grasp on reality. Each word Morrison chose is deliberate, and each sentence is structured with meaning, which is especially evident in Paul D’s warning to Sethe. Morrison’s use of the phrase “too thick”, along with her short yet powerful sentence structure make this sentence the most prevalent and important in her novel. This sentence supports Paul D’s side on the bitter debate between Sethe and he regarding the theme of love. While Sethe asserts that the only way to love is to do so passionately, Paul D cites the danger in slaves loving too much. Morrison uses a metaphor comparing Paul D’s capacity to love to a tobacco tin rusted shut. This metaphor demonstrates how Paul D views love in a descriptive manner, its imagery allowing the reader to visualize and thus understand Paul D’s point of view. In this debate, Paul D proves to be right in that Sethe’s strong love eventually hurts her, yet Paul D ends up unable to survive alone. Thus, Morrison argues that love is necessary to the human condition, yet it is destructive and consuming in nature. She does so through the powerful diction and short syntax in Paul D’s warning, her use of the theme love, and a metaphor for Paul D’s heart.
Gaitskill’s “Tiny, Smiling Daddy” focuses on the father and his downward spiral of feeling further disconnected with his family, especially his lesbian daughter, whose article on father-daughter relationships stands as the catalyst for the father’s realization that he’d wronged his daughter and destroyed their relationship. Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” focuses on Mel and his attempt to define, compare, and contrast romantic love, while leaving him drunk and confused as he was before. While both of my stories explore how afflicted love traumatizes the psyche and seem to agree that love poses the greatest dilemma in life, and at the same time that it’s the most valued prospect of life, the two stories differ in that frustrated familial love causes Gaitskill's protagonist to become understandable and consequently evokes sympathy from the reader, but on the other hand frustrated romantic love does nothing for Carver's Protagonist, except keep him disconnected from his wife and leaving him unchanged, remaining static as a character and overall unlikable. In comparing “Tiny, Smiling Daddy” and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”, together they suggest that familial love is more important than romantic love, which we relentlessly strive to achieve often forgetting that we’ll forever feel alone without familial love, arguably the origin of love itself.
The intimacy in the last paragraph of the chapter represents a unity holding on to each other bravely, as strength to survive what may happen to them. Atwood achieves this intimate effect by cleverly summarizing the chapter as a whole paragraph to emphasize love, intensity and courage for them to stay alive and not fade away like the gymnasium.
the end of the novel as both the women in his life have other men at
Victor Hugo once said, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” Whether in Shakespeare’s tragic play about lovers doomed by fate, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s sonnet describing love, “Sonnet 116”, or O. Henry’s age old The Gift of the Magi, love motivates the characters and authors to make decisions that have a weighty impact on their lives. Throughout these works of literature, authors use love’s power to drive the plot forward to create good events within the characters’ lives. Love is a force for good because it makes people willing to forgive each other, it brings the best out of people in bad situations, and it