The Enigma by John Fowles

The Enigma by John Fowles

"The Enigma" involves all of the elements of a good mystery. It involves a search for a

man who just disappeared one day out of the blue with no trace as to what could have happened.

This essay will establish the important points of the story such as the sergeant's role in the case,

his similarities to the main character as well as his relationship with the son of the main character's

girlfriend, and what is ultimately uncovered in the end.

"When John Marcus Fielding disappeared, he therefore contravened all social and

statistical probability. Fifty-seven years old, rich, happily married with a son and two daughters;

on the board of several City companies...but the most profoundly anomalous aspect of his case

was that he was also a Conservative Member of Parliament," (Fowles 191-192). Since he was

such a prominent figure, his disappearance came as a shock to everyone that he knew. His wife

frantically tried to trace her husbands steps by calling all of the places that he could possibly have

been at, but nobody saw him. It was like he had just disappeared into space...he was gone. Mrs.

Fielding took the disappearance to the next level and called in a personal detective. She went

through everything with the detective and "a few minutes later the hunt was at last placed in

professional hands," (Fowles 198). Mrs. Fielding's philosophy could be summed up best in this

manner with respect to a professional search;

"I have done all that I have could to find him, it is your turn." Word spread that Fielding

was missing and it became the big headline in the news. All sorts of stories were fabricated,

including that he was trying to escape his life and that he possibly had ...

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... information because of that one dinner that she had with Fielding. She

figured out what was going to happen. Once he got the story straight, he no longer needed the

help of the Fielding's. He went on to collecting evidence, Isobel his animus, his female shadow,

cracked the case for him, and now it was his job to get to the bottom of it.

In conclusion, I have used what I have deemed interesting and important to show what I

believe was the key point to the story. In my opinion the key to the story was Isobel because if it

were not for her the Fieldings would have given Jennings the "run around" so to speak

throughout the whole story and it would have remained an unsolved mystery just like what it

seemed they all wanted it to be.

Bibliography:

"The Enigma" by John Fowles Taken from THe Ebony Tower Little, Brown and Company-Boston-Toronto