Critical Evaluation of Stone Cold by Robert Swindells
A novel that I have read recently is "Stone Cold" by Robert Swindells.
In this novel there are two main characters called Link and Shelter.
These characters have very different personalities. I intend to
consider the ways in which the author has created these two very
different personalities and will explain my reaction to each of them.
This novel tells both sides of one story, Links side and Shelters
side. Link is a 16year old boy that left home because of family
troubles and Shelter is a 47year old man who was discharged from the
army on medical grounds and doesn't agree with this. He thinks it is
his duty to get rid of the homeless. Link moved to London to get away
from it all (his family) and became homeless. Shelter doesn't like the
homeless, he just thinks they are a "waste-of-space" Shelter begins to
bribe them into going back to his flat where he intends to kill them!
Shelter kills many of Links friends and Link begins to wonder why they
are all going missing. He does some detective work and then the truth
is finally revealed.
In this novel Link is one of the main characters. During this novel we
are made to sympathise with Link. One of the ways in which we are made
to sympathise with him was when his stepfather Vince treated him
unfairly "slapping him about". This did not happen on only one
occasion in fact it happened everyday:
"I'd been with my mates, he locked me out the house".
Even although this was not Vince's house he still thought he had the
authority over Link and his mother to do this. This also showed how
much Vince disliked Link.
Another way in which we are made to feel sorry for Link was when link
was homeless and could...
... middle of paper ...
...lpless person
didn't have a clue what they were getting themselves into.
Link and Shelter are the complete opposite of each other. Link is a
very caring character that hasn't really achieved anything in life,
whereas Shelter is a cruel, heartless person who has experienced
military work in life.
In conclusion I think Shelter is a horrible man. I feel sorry for
Shelter because I think he feels he didn't achieve in life because he
was dismissed from the army and he is coming back by killing the
homeless. On the other-hand I think Link is a very kind and lonely
person. No matter how poor he was he always helped his friends. I also
feel sorry for Link, his family disowned him and he has no real
friends. I thought this novel was a great read. It made me realise how
hard and dangerous it is for the homeless to survive and also what a
lonely life they lead.
There was a growing sense that the poor did not deserve assistance and so in 1834 the ‘Poor Law Amendment Act’ was introduced. This was designed to make conditions more severe and to even further force self-improvement amongst the poor. ‘The central objective…was to withdraw poor relief from men judged ‘able-bodied’ in Poor Law terminology’. (Thane: 1978: 29) Alternatives such as the work-house were introduced. The notion that you should only ask for help if you desperately needed it as a last resource loomed. The Charity Organisation Society was ‘a body w...
and at one point, had a gun pointed to his head. Also there appears to be
himself out to be a man of peace and said that he just wanted to
In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, the author uses a style of writing combining factual, journalistic writing with the mystery and intrigue normally found in traditional fiction novels to develop a new genre that critics found unique from the modernists of his time. In the beginning of this book, the murders and victims seem unrelated, but as the book moves ahead, the relationship becomes clear. The victims, who are the Clutter family of four, are the typical all-American family. The family is murdered in their own home by two ex-convicts named Dick and Perry. The murder takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, but Dick and Perry travel around the U.S. and Mexico cashing bad checks until they are finally caught in Las Vegas.
A human being is a complicated entity of a contradictory nature where creative and destructive, virtuous and vicious are interwoven. Each of us has gone through various kinds of struggle at least once in a lifetime ranging from everyday discrepancies to worldwide catastrophes. There are always different causes and reasons that trigger these struggles, however, there is common ground for them as well: people are different, even though it is a truism no one seems to able to realize this statement from beyond the bounds of one’s self and reach out to approach the Other.
Going into prison, Malcolm X is illiterate. He is frustrated that he cannot express himself. Malcolm X decides “the best thing [he] could do [is] get hold of a dictionary - to study, to learn some words.” In the prison Malcolm X requests tablets, pencils, and a dictionary. Then he begins to copy the dictionary on to the tablets. He does this until he has completely the entire dictionary. Typical people do not learn to read and write by copying the dictionary, but by sounding out letters and copying the alphabet.
Jock Young’s book “The Criminological Imagination” very clearly spells out the author’s feeling that orthodox criminology has lost its way and has been swallowed up into obscurification through bogus, post-modern positivism. Young postulates, the cost of this phenomena is the loss of critical thinking and objectivity in the field of criminology. Young contends criminology can be rescued from obscurity if returning to its orthodox beginnings by reducing the impact of neo-liberalism with critical imagination, and not simply succumbing to empirical data to try to explain everything. Young contends, doing so seems to simply cloud the view, thus giving rise to a host of incomplete and overly politicized theories.
In the end, he gave away about 90% of his own money to various causes. He also preached to others to do the same as in giving money for education and sciences.The problem, however, was that there was such a contrast between the rich and the poor. By this he was referring to the inequalities in rights, hereditary powers, and such things. He also felt we should have a continuum of forward progress, i.e.
such ones when he said “And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the
What drives serial killers to kill their victims in the most brutal way possible? The answer to that question is still being researched today. The psychopathic mindset of serial killers tend to be influenced by abuse, insanity, and mental illness. In Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Capote shows great examples of mental illness and how being abused can affect their mind. An example of this is when Perry was abused by his parents, he had troubles wetting the bed and sucking on his thumb at ages “normal” people would consider troublesome. Serial killers are often portrayed as bloodthirsty monsters, when in reality, their psychological mindset needs to be considered.
...lp deal with grief and loss. He also reminded readers that we must not think just about ourselves, but others as well.
She explains how feeling vulnerable is exactly what people seek when going through hardships. How being recognized and desired after going through grief is homologous to what it means to be human. Butler points out that majority of society has troubles locking emotions up in their heads, and explains how hard it is for them to unlock their emotions in the fear of being unrecognized. That to be vulnerable, means to let others into our emotions while obtaining the ability to communicate in order to understand their emotions as well. Butler clarifies this by confessing that grief itself, and vulnerability, are the underlying examples of how we are substantially affected by other’s recognition. Though, with the capacity of vulnerability, we also create dimensions of negative connectedness as well, Butler
We often believe that others are more like ourselves than they really are. Thus, our
won millions to his cause. Even though he said that at his death he was "...the
...as his acceptance of his life of poverty and service that serves as an example for us to use as a model for our actions in this world.