Tracking a Text: Spies by Michael Frayn 1: Chapter One: pages 3 – 6 The narrator (Stephen) is disturbed by the smell of a certain shrub every June. It triggers his memory and makes him think of the past. Particularly, he thinks of Keith and Keith’s mother. He remembers Keith’s mother, her eyes sparkling and her laughter. Then he remembers her crying and he not knowing what to do. He remembers that the whole thing started with six words spoken by Keith. He resolves to go back to the place where these events took place and books a flight to London. He doesn’t say where he lives. But it is not far from London and there is a suggestion that his daughter is not speaking English. He tells his daughter and son that he …show more content…
Stephen feels that there is something improper in looking at them ‘stripped of their protective adulthood.’ (p46) She catches them in her room, but they say they are doing nothing. ‘And everything in the world has changed beyond imagination or recall.’ (P51) They plan to follow Mrs Hayward to her rendezvous at the end of the month. Keith hangs an old bath tile in the entrance to their hiding place. Upon it he has written: ‘Privet’. Stephen recognises the spelling mistake but doesn’t say anything. Also, there is irony in the fact that this is the name of the bush whose fragrance torments him. Whose Reality? In Chapter 3 From here, old Stephen is the outer narrator, but the bulk of the narrative is given over to young Stephen. Old Stephen is like an observer of his own past. The past is a separate life and reality from the present. One thing that the ‘stalking’ of Keith’s mother demonstrates is that once you believe someone is a spy, everything they do can seem suspicious. As Stephen say ‘Everything that we’d once taken for granted now seems open to question’. (p41) This creates a dual reality, one if Keith’s mother is a spy and another if she isn’t. It is increasingly obvious that Mrs Hayward is not a German spy. The spies in the novel at this point are Keith and Stephen. 4: Chapter 4: pages 65 – 89 Stephen suffers at school, being bullied at lunchtime. But he is sustained by the fact that he ‘knows’ about Mrs Hayward
Argument: Dubus includes references to Kenneth having an inner conflict between being the man of the house, or letting his transgender feelings show.
The book “The Other America”, written by Michael Harrington, describes poverty in America in the 1950s and 1960s, when America became one of the most affluent and advanced nations in the world. The book was written in 1962, and Harrington states that there were about 50,000,000 (about 25% of the total population) poor in America at that time. The author did extensive research with respect to the family income levels to derive the poverty numbers, and used his own observations and experiences to write this book. This book addresses the reasons for poverty, the nature of poverty, the culture of poverty, the blindness of Middle Class America with respect to poverty, and the responsibility of all Americans in addressing the issue of poverty in America.
Stephen has low self esteem because his father views him as a disappointment. Father son relationships are vital in helping a child form their identity and their view of what it means to be a man. According to Stephen’s father, a man is burly and somber and does not waste their time on childish dreams. By these standards, Stephen “[can] never become a man.” For instance, Stephen’s willowy figure is not capable of achieving the strength the other men possess. More importantly, he is too fascinated with beauty to desire to pursue the life of
Stephen expresses his feeling of determination, when he claims, “No it ain’t too hard for me. Not by a god damn sight.” Certainly, Stephen finds purpose in life, when he feels, the well-accompanied reputation in his father’s eyes, He feels as clear and happy as pores underlying the skin, without the existence of makeup.
1. Throughout the story suspense is aroused and maintained excellently. This is achieved by the character the author creates. Mr. Martin is characterized as a neat and cautious man, who never took a smoke or a drink in his life. Our suspense is aroused when the author states that it has been “a week to the day since Mr. Martin had decided to rub out Mrs. Ulgine Barrows”. This arouses our suspense because we are told Mr. Martin is planning to murder this woman. The suspense is maintained with Mr. Martin’s thoughts. We as an audience are given his thoughts through the use of the 3rd person omniscient point of view. His thoughts are mostly on the issue on his dislike of Mrs. Barrows. Because of this, he
In the Fences, by August Wilson shows that life of African Americans in the U.S. in the 1950s with the story of Troy and his family. Wilson uses the symbol of the fence to show the desires of each character like Rose’s desire is to keep her family together, Troy’s desire is to keep death out and to be not bound forever, and Bono’s desire is to follow Troy, his best friend, as an example of the right way to live and to be with Rose and Troy who are basically his family. Rose and the other seen characters represent people and show gender roles of the time, like Rose is a housewife, Troy is the provider. Also Cory is the new generation of emotion over responsibility, Gabriel represents the war heros that were permanently disabled from war
In this essay I intend to explore the narrative conventions and values, which Oliver Smithfield presents in the short story Victim. The short story positions the reader to have negative and sympathetic opinion on the issues presented. Such as power, identity and bullying. For example Mickey the young boy is having issues facing his identity. It could be argued that finding your identity may have the individual stuck trying to fit in with upon two groups.
America’s answer for dealing with crime prevention is locking up adult offenders in correctional facilities with little rehabilitation for reentry into society. American response for crime prevention for juvenile’s offenders is the same strategy used against adult offenders taken juvenile offenders miles away from their environment and placed in adult like prisons.
In his essay “The Country Just over the Fence,” Paul Theroux describes his trip to Nogales, Mexico. He begins his essay by illustrating the physical appearance of the wall separating Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico. He calls it “an unintentional masterpiece”. Theroux feels the wall is somewhat informal. He discovers that crossing the border into Mexico is not too difficult itself. He marvels over the appearance of the wall and also the underlying call to action it places on a person, “Do you go through, or stay home?” Theroux decided he needed to see for himself. After deciding to cross the border, he met many different people. They told him about the celebrations that used to be held between the two neighboring towns which are now divided by the wall. Theroux also met people who had attempted to cross the border illegally into America only to get sent back to Mexico. On his adventure, Theroux also learned about all the medical tourists who travel to the country for cheaper treatments, specifically dentistry. I am interested in discussing Theroux’s presentation of the his decision to cross the border, the people he met, and the medical tourism Nogales, Mexico draws in.
In the book The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, there are negative effects that impact everyone in society. The three main negative effects in the story were violence, peer pressure, and stereotyping. These three effects still occur today and affect people all around the world. The novel helps us understand the consequences of these effects and how we can overcome these problems in society.
As a growing topic of discussion, privacy in our society has stirred quite some concern. With the increase of technology and social networking our standards for privacy have been altered and the boundary between privacy and government has been blurred. In the article, Visible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets, Peter Singer addresses the different aspects of privacy that are being affected through the use of technology. The role of privacy in a democratic society is a tricky endeavor, however, each individual has a right to privacy. In our society, surveillance undermines privacy and without privacy there can be no democracy.
A thrill passed over all of us. The three Mr. Mumbles bent forward and listened eagerly. I don't think it's so much that, argued Lucille sceptically; it's more that he was a German spy during the war. One of the men nodded in confirmation"( Fitzgerald 30). However if all of this is true, then he is hiding in plain sight.
Divided into five chapters, this book follows Stephen's life from childhood through adolescence to manhood. We are essentially given a window into Stephen's consciousness, and the whole world is unveiled to us through that single aperture. According to Sydney Bolt, no novel written before A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man can match its variety in styles This indicates Joyce's originality. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is told in characteristic dialogue and ironically sympathetic
It becomes clear that the female protagonist, Alice, appears to be provocative and impatient, despondent at the prospect that she has been kept waiting at the expense of the British legal system, although she is more than happy to share a joke with the nearest detective in order to incite some form of reaction from her lover, Frank, a fellow detective. Stating that she expects “the entire machinery of Scotland Yard to be held up to please” her only aggravates an already awkward situation, emphasising her unwillingness to conform to the rules and regulations, expecting the law to accommodate her every necessitity.
Mr. Martins motives to kill Mrs. Barrows is effortlessly distinguished as, James Thurber, the author of “The Catbird Seat,” effectively uses the literary devices of suspense, dramatic irony and tone to characterize Mr. Martin as punctilious. As the story begins, Thurber creates suspense for the reader as Mr. Martin is portrayed as unusual for buying a pack of cigarettes in the most crowded place. The story’s suspense is displayed as when “… [he] was generally known that [he] did not smoke... ”(Thurber 1). By letting the reader in on this anomaly allows the reader to experience suspense and the reader is already thinking this all has to be part of Martin’s meticulous plan to kill Barrows.