Edgar Sawtelle Isolation

In The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, the respective authors address contrasting themes. The Perfect Storm, a work of nonfiction, explores the question of what happened to the crew of the Andrea Gail, a commercial deep sea fishing boat that sunk off the coast of New England in 1991. In contrast, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, a novel, is about a young boy who suspects his uncle of killing his father. Accordingly, Wroblewski uses the literary features of plot, character and foreshadowing to express his theme of isolation; while Junger employs the literary features of nonfiction as well as those of fiction, such as anecdotes, description, and dramatic structure, to communicate his theme of

Blocked by Claude, his evil uncle who is the murderer, Edgar cannot prove him guilty. The theme of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is isolation. Throughout the book, there are many instances when Edgar is isolated. He is alone for a big portion of the story. He is isolated at home because he is an only child and lives on an isolated farm. Another time when he is isolated is the time he runs away from home after accidentally killing Dr. Papineau. Some of the literary devices Wroblewski uses to express his theme of isolation are plot, character, and foreshadowing. The plot is essential to any fiction story and describes the events in it. Edgar lives in isolation the whole story. His farm is in a rural area with a sparse of people and properties. Edgar runs away, which represents the isolation that Edgar is in for the majority of the time. Following Edgar through his journey alone in the world looking for somewhere to go and food to eat is an opportunity for the audience to connect to the character and his position in life. He eventually runs into a kind man named Henry to help him with his injured dog, Tinder. One last time we find Edgar in confinement is the time when he comes back to the farm and hides in the barn by himself. Important plot points help the audience understand the confinement Edgar is in. Another important feature in works of fiction like The

Wroblewski and Junger write their books with different purposes and themes. The theme of isolation in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is more of an idea in the plot to help the audience understand the story in a deeper way, while theme in The Perfect Storm, the question of why people risk their lives to make a living, better engages the audience in the purpose of the book, to recognize those who save people’s lives. Both the theme and the purpose of The Perfect Storm connect with one another. In contrast, the only similarity between the two books are some plot points, but that is purely coincidental. All in all, the two books are distant from one another in the strategy of plot and