In “The Dead” by Charlie Higson, the protagonist is Ed, originally a private school boy with no initiative to make a life for himself in the new world, and he develops into a leader with intentions to help as many people as he can survive. The story is based around the outbreak of an unknown disease, which causes everyone over 16 years old to deteriorate mentally and physically and attack anyone still living. The young people are left to fight and fend for themselves. Though you learn about Ed slowly, he’s a round character, and always has another surprise in store for readers. Ed’s most noticeable conflict in the story is that for much of it Ed is unable to fight the “strangers”, believing hitting someone is wrong though the others try their …show more content…
best to convince him that they’re too far gone to be considered people. This causes tension on a select few occasions with the rest of his group, such as in the lines “You can’t hit them, can you? You won’t get your hands dirty. You’re bloody useless” (Higson 101 ).He’s motivated by helping his friends and himself to survive, but he hopes to find a way to help that doesn’t involve hurting anyone. This mentality changes, as Ed is proven to be a dynamic character over the course of the story, as he undergoes a few dramatic changes. In the beginning, he was no help in a fight, frozen in fear whenever violence broke out. This shows early on in the lines “The thing was, Ed hadn’t hit a single one of them yet, and he didn’t know if he could“ (Higson 15), when you’re first introduced to Ed. As the story progressed the violence only came more often and Ed found it harder and harder to stay out of the fight. Finally, when he and his friends got into a conflict where they were outnumbered greatly, Ed entered a violent fury and killed off all of the “strangers”. This change was driven by his friends’ lives being on the line. For the remainder of the story, he becomes a leader that is looked up to and is a solid fighter. This is shown with the text evidence of someone describing him after a fight, “I ain’t got no problems with Ed,’ he said, and gave a big smile. ‘He knows what he’s doing. I saw him fight. This man is a maniac.“ (Higson 464). In conclusion, Ed goes through a few important changes throughout the story. He went from a follower trying to skate by events to a leader trying to survive in the new world and make a life for himself and others. In “The Dead” by Charlie Higson, the author uses the technique of parallel plots to create an effect of mystery and suspense on readers.
In the story, readers follow multiple characters in the same group of survivors, as well as a few outside. These effects are created perfectly during times where an important event occurs, and the reader's’ point of view switches to a different character, which causes the readers to be on edge, wondering then the fallout of the event will play a role in the story again. This technique is used well at times such as when Bam fires a shotgun shot into the darkness, “Like a camera flash going off. But it lasted just long enough for Bam to see a body falling back, arms thrown wide, the white face with red down one side, eyes wide in terror and surprise. Jack’s face” (Higson 316). After the attack, the point of view switches to Jack, a few minutes before these events. The effect of this technique is felt by the reader as it leaves them feeling on edge, unsure of when the plots will intertwine and the events the readers just experienced before will occur. This also affected the outcome of the story. As the characters apart of a different plot made different decisions, they often affected the other groups. This included characters needing to change their routes through town, where they would hole up for a few nights, what the outcome of a battle was, etc. In conclusion, Higson uses the technique of Parallel Plots to create the affects of mystery
and suspense in the text and on his readers.
-a new plot and conflict begins to develop in the scene and tension rises as we do not know what to expect out of the sudden change in storyline.
In most stories we enjoy, may it be from childhood or something more recent there is many times a theme that shows a clear hero and a clear villain. But ordinarily this is not the case in real life, there are few times that this is quite that simple. There are many sides to each story, and sometimes people turn a blind eye to, or ignore the opposing side’s argument. But if we look at both sides of a situation in the stories we can more clearly understand what is going on, moreover the villains in the book or play would seem more real, instead of a horrible person being evil for no reason, these two people have their own agenda may it be a ruthless vengeance or misplaced trust.
Strange things began to happen the next couple days. First, Joey was in the living room of Grandma’s house making a jig saw puzzle. He heard the sound of a horses hooves walking slowly on the street then the sound stopped in front of the house and heard someone put something in Grandma’s mail box. Joey heard the horse walk away and a little while later Grandma’s mailbox blew up. Next, Ms. Wilcox’s outhouse was destroyed by a cherry bomb. Then, a dead mouse was found floating in the bottle of milk that was delivered to the front
The scenes, which cover thirty years of the characters’ lives from eight to thirty-eight, each revolve around an injury that Doug has acquired through his accident prone life. The play progresses in five year intervals, jumping backwards and forwards, in a nonlinear progression. As they travel and run into each other’s lives, the two characters face new injuries. As the play progresses every five years, a new injury is added to one or both characters. Their lives intersect through these injuries, leading them to compare their wounds, both physical (Doug) and emotional (Kayleen), and drawing them closer together. With each new scene, old injuries and problems may have gotten better or resolved, but some became permanent. Yet, through these experiences, they are bonded together through bloodstains, cuts, and bandages.
The plot of the novel is creatively explained in a way that anyone can visualize through the event...
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.
effect on the theme of these four stories. The four stories illustrate mans inherent evil through characters, setting and actions.
...ories. One which brings out the perspective is when Ames and his father are clearing the graveyard where the grandfather is buried. The cemetery is rough and full of weeds. Upon finishing their work to give some respect back to the burial plots, the sun is setting and the moon is rising on opposite sides of Ames and his father while his father is praying. Ames touches the shoulder of his father and tells him to look at the splendor. They are speechless for a moment realizing there are much greater and grander things than the task at hand.
Charlie Gordon is a thirty-two year old man who is diagnosed mentally challenged but, is very eager to be smart. In order for this to happen Charlie will have to have surgery. There will be two doctors assisting Charlie; Dr.Strauss and Dr.Nemur. In the novel the two doctors are to totally different in how they motivated Charlie, treatment for Charlie and their reasoning for helping him.
1. The narrator was from a dramatic, objective point of view. The narrator sees all that is going on but does not know all, such as the lottery choosing who will be stoned. The narrator only provides the information that is currently going on, they do not draw conclusions or interpretations. It is written more like a show that you watch where you can only see what is currently happening, but you can see what is currently happening for everyone.
Parallel editing, or cross cutting, aligns multiple storylines that are happening at the same time in order to sustain the actions of each characters. In Suspense, this technique is used continuously to follow the paths of the tramp, wife, husband, and police. However, the
characters into actions that moved the plot, nor did it change them in any way. Her
How does the author use the interaction between the protagonists and the other characters to explore the central characters journey and what they gain and lose by the end of their story?
"The postmodernist writer distrusts the wholeness and completion associated with traditional stories and prefers to deal with other ways of structuring narrative." In other words, the narration by Joe Rose becomes the powerful distortion in the novel "distracting" the reader from the plot of the story.
Imagine an inner city kid having grown u in an environment where real life street violence is a way of life. His body, having survived personal experiences of violence, endured barely life sustained conditions, and many sleepless nights caused by the constant yet unpredictable call of death. His mind doubtful over where his next meal will come from, lost in search of some higher guidance, struggling through a world, not of innocent childish fantasies, but trapped in a forced reality. His only outlet is the loud blaring music coddling his already pent-up rage, an escape from these harsh realities, seducing him to a life of violence. In him is created a “me against the world” mentality that is manifested in the rap and hip-hop music that dominates his culture.