John Fowles - The Collector “The Collector” by John Fowles deals with a man’s obsession with a woman that turns to kidnap and eventually death. What attracted me to this book was the unusual topic of obsession and intriguing title. In my review I intend to study how the writer, John Fowles, portrays an obsessive personality - though Frederick’s actions, dialogue, and his changing relationship with his obsession Miranda. The book is set around the two main characters of Frederick and the girl he is obsessed with Miranda and is mainly set in Sussex around the middle of the 20th century. His obsession with Miranda begins in his hometown where he merely watches her from afar but she then moves away to London to go to college so his obsession dies away. After winning the pools, however, his obsession takes a new turn. He moves to London, on the advice of the ‘pools people’, where he sees Miranda again and his obsession grows once more. Once in London he starts to develop a fantasy to capture Miranda but never really intends to act upon it until he come across a house that fits perfectly into his fantasy. The buying of this house then encourages him to carry out his fantasy and kidnap her. This book is arranged in an unusual way. The first chapter is told from the view point of Frederick of the capturing and after the capture of Miranda. The second chapter is in diary form; this is told from Miranda’s point of view. In this she recounts people and events from before she was captured and also describes her escape attempts. This chapter is very good in letting us see how Miranda perceives the events that are happening to her and provides a contrast to Frederick. The third is back to Frederick’s point of view and is about Miranda’s illness, Frederick’s attempt to help her and his reactions. The fourth chapter is very short and is about Frederick finding Miranda’s diary, chapter two in the book, and realising that she never felt anything but resentment for him. It also introduces the idea that he may do it again for a comparison. Frederick, looking back on his experience with Miranda, tells the book in the form a dialogue with the reader. The writer, Fowles, demonstrates Frederick’s obsessive personality through his actions. One of these is the way he marks down the viewing of Miranda in his diary.
Prior to the meteor, Pfeffer initially characterizes Miranda as an average teenager that embodies selfishness and apathy, but later reveals that these attributes do change. Before life becomes utter chaos, Miranda spends her time worrying about the things in her life like having “enough money for…skating lessons” (8) or “spen[ding] the weekend working on an english paper” (10). When Miranda is of...
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.
...ve interest was free born and wished to marry her. However, after Harriet?s attempts to pursued her master to sell her to the young neighbor failed she was left worse off than before. Dr. Norcom was so cruel he forbade Harriet anymore contact with the young man. Harriet?s next love came when she gave birth to her first child. Her son Benny was conceived as a way to get around Dr. Norcom?s reign of terror. However, this is a subject that was very painful for her. She conveys to the reader that she has great regret for the length she went to stop her Master. Along with her own guilt she carries the memories of her Grandmother?s reaction to the news of her pregnancy. Clearly this was a very traumatic time in Harriet?s life. In light of these difficult events Harriet once again found love and hope in her new born son. ?When I was most sorely oppressed I found solace in his smiles. I loved to watch his infant slumber: but always there was a dark cloud over my enjoyment. I could never forget that he was a slave.? (Jacobs p. 62)
Technology is an application of scientific knowledge. In my opinion Ray Bradbury’s is wrong about technology but he has a good idea that technology could take over our lives and impact us majorly. As in Ray Bradbury’s short stories, “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Veldt” throughout these short stories he described how technology could harm or be destructive to the world. However, in my opinion I disagree with Ray Bradbury’s opinion since with technology it makes our lives more efficient, entertains us and makes us safe.
...neglected technology are still present in nature. The house stands alone in a scorched land, surrounded by ruins, remnants of other buildings and homes. Animals also exist in nature without humanity, however in poor conditions. The foxes, cats, and sparrows search for food and shelter from the home; the family dog dies from radiation poisoning and starvation. Nature also takes over inside of the house because the house functions by mechanical animals such as the mice, rats, and snakes. The children’s bedroom features an artificial jungle with mechanical animals and synthetic environments. This shows that even though mankind is gone, technology cannot live and eventually nature will start taking over again. In the end, nature prevails over technology. A tree falls on the house causing the fire which is a basic, natural force and a symbol of true destructive power.
There Will Come Soft Rains is a short story that is taking place on August 4, 2026. A nuclear event of some kind has occurred sometime prior to the story, and no signs of human life are evident. There is only one house left standing and it functions independently, and has been completing its daily tasks as if the family still lives there.
...ft Rains” is snapshot of several splits that existed in the culture during the era it was written. The story's subject matter was informed by the split between optimism about new technology from the Space Race and the fears of experiencing the effects of nuclear war. The contrast between nature's will to survive and technology's lockstep execution of tasks are reflected in the story and provide an important lesson about the pervasiveness of technology. The general consensus on the nuclear weapon in the genre of science fiction informed Bradbury's choice to deviate from the norm and treat it with more reverence. Bradbury's disagreement with his cultural perception is evident in “There Will Come Soft Rains” when he incorporates elements of other genres in his work. “There Will Come Soft Rains” is a product of a tumultuous, and a culturally divided period of time.
...ith modernity and their resolution held a hope and understanding for the future. This essay has discussed how the novel tackles the conflicts in society which eventually leads to the romantic interests of the novel representing a connection between the two worlds of the past and the present.
In The Author to her Book, the author’s tone changes multiple times throughout the story making it quite clear where she stands and how she wants the reader to feel about each sentence she writes. By analyzing the words and images Anne Bradstreet uses and depicts, it clear she is frustrated and annoyed about what is happening based on what the speaker says in the poem.
Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story, but give significance as well. The point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel. The author chooses to write the novel through the eyes of the main character and narrator, Jack. Jack’s perception of the world is confined to an eleven foot square room.
“August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains” is a short story taken out of the book The Martian Chronicles written by Ray Bradbury. The story is set in Allendale, California in August of 2026 where a futuristic house is programmed to wake up the McClellan family and make breakfast and tend to their needs. On the side of the house are the charred silhouettes of the family. The house goes on with its routine until it is destroyed by a fire. During the time period that Ray Bradbury wrote the short stories, World War II had just ended and The Cold War was quickly coming on the rise. Causing people to have a lingering thought that a possible nuclear war could still happen. Ray Bradbury used
This is Clegg trying to manipulate the reader into thinking that he was in the right of the actions he was doing, and Miranda was just so ungrateful. This stems back to the overarching idea of Clegg trying to paint the picture of him abducting Miranda is completely normal. But through reading the first part of the story there’s this underlying suspense added when he tries to act normal throughout the abduction situation, we know that he isn’t going to treat Miranda with “kindness” for the whole duration of kidnapping her because Miranda isn’t going to want to be kept captive against her will. Miranda tries to escape multiple times through trying to carve her way out, through trying to get attention of a car passing by, and of trying to hurt Clegg with a garden tool so she could escape. This leads Clegg at the end of the story when Miranda feels that she has pneumonia that this is just another of her tricks to escape and he leaves us with this suspenseful line “What I am trying to say is that it all came unexpected. I know what I did next day was a mistake, but up to that day I thought I was acting for the best within my rights” (120 Fowles). This is the most suspenseful line throughout the whole first part and it arises so many questions: What came
The opinions of the narrator can be seen throughout the book. The readers saw a glimpse of the narrator’s opinions about the settings, situations and the characters. However, the narrator’s attitude throughout the book changes over time. In the beginning of the book, the readers got information about the narrator feeling guilt towards his writing career due to his Puritan ancestors. In the passage, the narrator has some judgmental attitude towards the Puritan community.
Stylistically, the book is arranged in rotating chapters. Every fourth chapter is devoted to each individual character and their continuation alo...
Technology has stood the test of time. Since as far as we can document, humans have been inventing various forms of technology and science. Humans began making speers, hatchets, and vases and progressed to making cars, trains, and automobiles. As technology evolved over human history, wars also got more complex. With science and engineering, more lethal weapons were being invented; tanks, fighter jets, the modern machine gun, and the atomic bomb. Science and technology can have a very large negative effect on humans. In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Cat’s Cradle, he explores this topic though fate and freewill, truth, and religion. He teaches us lessons on what not to do so as to prevent a disaster. In addition to reading about hypothetical disasters,