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Analysis of Anthony Eaton's A New Kind of Dreaming Essay

Decent Essays

Q. "Anthony Eaton portrays the issues of the abuse of authority and power through chracterisation". Discuss this statement providing close references to the novel.

Characterisation is a vivid description of a person's appearance and character. This is presented through their actions, speech or thought. The novel 'A New Kind of Dreaming' by Anthony Eaton uses characterisation to portray the issue of abuse of authority and power through the antagonist Sergeant Butcher. Sergeant Butcher is a powerful high ranked policeman in the isolated town Port Barren. The author urges us to question whether we would report the crimes with the repercussions that would follow, or to keep quiet.

Elliot Butcher is the small town, Port Barren's …show more content…

Someone new arrives in town and suddenly there's an outbreak of vandalism, well, people notice. And talk. That's all I'm saying." When Jamie is seriously threatened by Sergeant Butcher, Lorraine doesn't do anything. The reason why Lorraine doesn't report Butcher is because he knows about her relationship and as he has a more powerful authority he can ruin her career and put in prison. As readers we are positioned to feel sorry for Lorraine in the end because she made a mistake (having a relationship with a client) and it was always coming back to haunt her. Eventually she tried to flee but died while doing so.

Constable Mike McPherson was a colleague of Sergeant Butcher and was seen as a drunk. Throughout the novel he is constantly drinking alcohol and receives no respect from the community. However Butcher allowed McPherson to keep his job, although he was an alcoholic, this was so Butcher could protect himself. If McPherson was let go he could overcome his alcoholism and report Butcher's crimes. The reason behind his heavy drinking was to forget what happened while he was on the boat with Sergeant Butcher. The situation was he and Butcher saw a load of dead refugees and he witnessed Butcher killing an old man and a young girl. Because Butcher knows what he did will affect his job and put him in prison, he blackmailed McPherson into secrecy and forbid him to

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