Reflection in Iris Murdoch's Under the Net

Jake and Alonzo move on to the gangster’s house named Smiley. When they get into the house Alonzo says he has to use the restroom and leaves Jake alone. Jake realizes a bit later that Alonzo has left him on his own. While on his own he figures out from Smiley that Alonzo owes the Russian MOB 1 million dollars by midnight or be killed. At the that time Jake realizes that he needs to get out but is stopped and dragged to the bathroom and a gun put up to his head. But turns out that he protected Smiley’s cousin in the alley earlier that day and was set free. Jake starts to look for Alonzo and finds him Sara’s apartment and tries to arrest him. While this is all going on Alonzo tries and gets the crowd around him to kill Jake, offering to pay them. No one took up on the offer and just walked away. He gets away and runs to LAX and while there the Russian MOB fire at him while in his car and they kill him. Jake finally feels some relief until he turns on the news to see them saying Alonzo died while serving a warrant to a high-risk person at LAX.

    As the time passes she can clearly see the woman in the paper. The woman in the paper is quiet and peaceful during the day, but at night she is imprisoned by the bars in the paper. This is reflection helps the narrator identify her own bars--her husband John. He is away during the day and at home in the same bed with her at night. She also identifies with the woman in the paper by sharing their similar routine. "At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be"..."by daylight she is subdued, quiet. I fancy its the pattern that keeps her so still. It is so puzzling. It keeps me quiet by the hour".

     Sure, some of us have this great confidence within ourselves about looking great, but that does not hold true for everyone. I understand the pain or disgust, or even disappointment one feels when they look in the mirror and say, “I wish I could change this or that about myself”. Although this piece is written about the author’s life, it holds meaning and connects with for many people; one only has to dig deep enough to find one. For me, it was to realize what is important in life can change, adapt and that we must explore our inner selves and find our own path in life.

his father and marry his mother, while Jake Gittes is running from his past in

“Why? What’s the point?”. Jake has a wife and a daughter and he hasn't spoken with his kid in months. His daughter refers to him as “the man that used to live with us” and he doesn't like speaking with his

Spaulding begins her essay with a detailed personal testimony that describes the deep emotional connection she feels for darkness. In part of the second paragraph she states, “the sky and shore and water were all one inky darkness though stars sparkled on the watery surface,” (83). This description of the

James believed that his true self was the reflection he saw in the mirror. He believed the boy there was locked inside. James would play with boy and tell him his problems. Despite this, James hated him. He hated that the boy didn’t feel the ache that James felt. He was free, never hungry, had his own bed and had a mother who wasn’t white.

In the beginning, Jake at first is nervous and frustrated that Amy is late. Which is a lack of commitment from Amy's side, and Jake is just feeling the effects of it. When Amy does get there, Jake starts to ask questions and is very aggressive about it; all the while he does not give her a chance to speak. This is another type of transgression, Jake is displaying problematic emotions while he is addressing Amy. Also while Jake is questioning Amy, she is acting suspiciously, and either trying to avoid the question or delaying the answer. Which does not help and actually makes the situation worse, between the two. Throughout the session they are both distant, no touching whatsoever and avoiding eye contact. Things do get pretty heated between the two, and Jake even pressured the counselor into revealing what his thoughts are; in which was unsatisfying to both of them.

5. Jake Gittes misjudges Evelyn Mulwray towards the end of the movie when he accuses her of killing her husband. The reason he accused her is because he found bifocal glasses in the salt water pond in her backyard and Hollis Mulwray died with salt water in his lungs, however, Mr. Mulwray did not wear bifocal glasses. Mr. Gittes also misjudged Mrs. Mulwray after she lied to the police about hiring him because he assumed that she knew more than what she was letting on. His speculation eventually became true after Mr. Gittes and Mrs. Mulwray discussed the affair and her payment at the dinner table. Mrs. Mulwray made it easy to assume that she was the killer because of her secretive activities and uneasy behavior she exhibited during conversation.

It will take that much time before you can get past what she went through and come to see the perfection of her sentences” (Grealy 235). After reading Lucy’s memoir from cover to cover, I could not agree more. The writing is concise, and each sentence is intricately woven with the next, sounding almost poetic. It is even more impressive how Lucy can communicate a considerable amount of meaning through only a few words. A part that deserves special recognition is one at the end of the memoir. “I wanted to tell the man I was with about it, but he was involved in his own thoughts and I did not want to interrupt him, so instead I looked with curiosity at the window behind him, its night-silvered glass reflecting the entire café, to see if I could, now, recognize myself.” The “night-silvered glass” is a metaphor for Lucy’s self-reflection as she comes to terms with who she is. Not only is this brilliant sentence powerful within itself but it also provides the reader with a feeling of closure and

It shows how Jake is persistent and dedicated to his job, even if it always seems like he is in over his head. Jake, however, also departs from the film noir tradition when he lets his emotions get the best of him. The greatest example of this is seen during the exchange between him and Evelyn when he is trying to find out the truth about Katherine. Resorting for the first time to violence against a woman, the near desperation with which Jake pushes Evelyn to confess is an expression of his fears and anxieties about being completely lost amidst the lies that surround him. The result is the humanization of Jake Giddes’ character. He simply is not perfect, and ultimately fails to see the bigger picture of what he is involved with until .

However, Jake is not married, nor does he live with a woman in Paris. The characters of the

But although Brett may have set a role model for other women, she still had her flaws, one of them being that she was very promiscuous and had several affairs, leading men on to think that she cared for them, for so to ditch them for someone else. One very good example of this is her relationship with Jake. She cared deeply for Jake, but kept on hurting him, not necessarily intentionally, by her not wanting to be in a relationship with him due to his impotents. After Jake and Brett depart in Pamplona, Jake goes to San Sebastian, but quickly after his arrival, he receives a telegram from Brett who was in trouble, and needed Jakes help. The telegram said: “Can you come to hotel Montana Madrid, am rather in trouble, Brett” (Hemingway 209). The reason Brett is contacting Jake to help her is because she has decided to leave Romero, her 19 year old lover whom she left to Madrid wit. Brett knows how strongly Jake feels about her, and knows that he will always be there for her when she is in trouble, something that is proven when Jake says: “Well, that means San Sebastian all shot to hell. I suppose, vaguely, I had expected something of

Jake also at times seems to realize how bad his life is, but then never regrets it. He is in love with Brett Ashley, but she is always with other people, including Robert Cohn, which makes Jake jealous. This jealousy turns to anger when Jake gets into a fight with Robert and is then knocked out.

In a way, they are all connected through Sophie's life experiences. There are forces behind all of the philosophy lessons, as well as in Sophie's life. These forces are able to influence and adjust how you view the world around you.