Michael Frayn’s novel Spies, a wartime story describing two childhood friends, shows their developing relationship over time. Stephen Wheatly and Keith Hayward, through the novel, undergo a change in the dynamic of their friendship. This becomes clear when examining key and important passages throughout the novel. Stephen goes from being mostly a follower of Keith to overtaking him and leaving him behind. Keith doesn’t like this developing character we find Stephen to be because he enjoys appearing superior to Stephen.
In the beginning of the novel we see the sinister side of Keith and assume that his role in the friendship is the leader, as we read from the narrator, who is elder Stephen, “I followed him past Trewinnick” this shows the adherent
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Keith is seen to have an abundant wealthier background as we read from Michale Frayn's description of Keith, “His grey socks are neatly pulled up to half an inch below his knees, and brown leather sandals are neatly buckled.” This shows that Keith is much more of a smart looking young lad than Stephen showing the differentiation between their friendship. This makes Stephen feel below Keith because of the difference in social class, later on, Stephen will find his own voice and be more independent, this is Michael Frayn showing the childhood world of inferiority. There is a big difference in the social status of the two boys. Keith goes to the 'right local preparatory school' and wears yellow and black which are the 'right' colours whereas Stephen wears green and black and goes to the 'wrong' school. This social class reflects on their relationship. 'He was the officer corps in our two-man army. I was the other ranks- and grateful to be so.’ This shows Stephen knows his position in their friendship and is gratified with it, also it sounds like Stephen understands his place in their relationship and knows has respect for Keith as he relates it to an ‘officer’ and ‘ranks’. Stephen is allowed to go around to the Haywards and seems to envy them which makes him feel like they are the perfect family and longs to be like them ‘Auntie Dee yet another ornament to the Hayward family’. Here Michael Frayn is showing the nature of perception, how a child views
Michael Patrick MacDonald lived a frightening life. To turn the book over and read the back cover, one might picture a decidedly idyllic existence. At times frightening, at times splendid, but always full of love. But to open this book is to open the door to Southie's ugly truth, to MacDonald's ugly truth, to take it in for all it's worth, to draw our own conclusions. One boy's hell is another boy's playground. Ma MacDonald is a palm tree in a hurricane, bending and swaying in the violent winds of Southie's interior, even as things are flying at her head, she crouches down to protect her children, to keep them out of harms way. We grew up watching Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and Peanuts. Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up watching violence, sadness and death.
... then meets Joy Duncan and Justine who just like him the way he is, they are not concerned with his social status, they like him because he is a kind, genuine boy. As the text goes on, we watch Carl and Justine?s relationship flourish into something bigger. This helps him with his self esteem. Justine shows him the true meaning of friendship and shows him that he is loved and worthwhile. There is also Carl?s relationship with Maddie. At the beginning of the story, Carl follows Maddie around because he notices her, she stuck out from a crowd. He then helped her on New Years Eve. Maddie was quite cruel to Carl but he never gave up and near to the end of the novel, they form a true friendship. Maddie, Carl and Justines friendship was very important because they all leaned on eachother through hard times, like the hard times Carl and Maddie were going through.
Christopher McCandless’ stubborn personality causes him to leave a loving home in order to start a new beginning as “ Alexander Supertramp, master of his own destiny”(Krakauer 23). He refuses to further educate himself with a law degree, instead taking a journey into the wild, leaving behind his mother, father and caring sister. Chris grew up as an intelligent individual excelling in almost everything he did. His parents supported him and often encouraged him in his endeavors. Unfortunately, and for clear reasons, Chris did not reciprocate his parents’ love, instead he creates an illusion of normality, causing his parents to believe that everything was fine, while he slowly drifted away from them both physically and emotionally. Chris “let them think they were right”, so they would begin to think that he was beginning to see “their side of things”, when in truth, he was merely waiting for the right time to completely “ knock them out of [h...
Edward Bloor takes on a challenge when he attempts to make the reader empathize with people that he had intentionally tried to make the reader dislike earlier in the story. This is a challenge because i...
Hatcher, Nathan. "Sammy’s Motive." Ode To Friendship . Ed. Connie Bellamy. Virginia Beach 1997. 188-189.
Stillinger, Jack, Deidre Lynch, Stephen Greenblatt, and M H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume D. New York, N.Y: W.W. Norton & Co, 2006. Print.
Two men, Reuben Bourne and Roger Malvin, have survived the battle and are trying to make their way back home. Both are wounded. As they stop in a forest by “…a young and vigorous sapling stood…,” Malvin entreats Bourne to abandon him and save himself (20). The men are familiar with one another and, at fir...
middle of paper ... ... Throughout The Pact, there are many tough times that each of the characters goes through. Whenever one of these times hits the victim always had his two friends to fall back. Whether it is after gang related activity or failing a medical exam, his friends were always there. Having this knowledge of loyalty was, I am sure, a great comfort to each when they were going through their tough time.
The Appropriateness of Fyran's Text in Spies Within Frayn’s enigmatic and richly nostalgic text, the theme of spies is undoubtedly significant. The title has immediate connotations of secrecy, danger and mystery. Frayn has cleverly left a trail of hidden clues throughout the novel, which involves the reader in the story and makes us ultimately become spies. Furthermore, many characters in the text spy on each other and are being spied upon and have distinctive characteristics of a spy.
This bond of friendship helps the men of Alpha Company survive on a day to day basis. They rely on each other for entertainment to drone out the monotony of the days. With hours and hours of marching and no action the men need a release or the boredom would drive them crazy. An example of this is “Kiowa teaching a rain dance to Rat Kiley and Dave Jensen, the thre...
As Stephen grows, he slowly but inexorably distances himself from religion. His life becomes one concerned with pleasing his friends and family. However, as he matures he begins to feel lost and hopeless, stating, "He saw clearly too his own futile isolation. He had not gone one step nearer the lives he had sought to approach nor bridged the restless shame and rancor that divided him from mother and brother and sister." It is this very sense of isolation and loneliness that leads to Stephen's encounter with the prostitute, where, "He wanted to sin with another of his kind, to force another being to sin with him and to exult with her in sin.
Even as a young boy, Stephen experienced rejection and isolation at school. On the playground Stephen "felt his body [too] small and weak amid the [other] players" (Joyce 8). His schoolmates even poked fun at his name. In response to his rejection by the other boys Stephen makes a conscious decision to "[keep] on the fringe of his line, out of sight of his prefect" and the other boys. Stephen is later depicted as choosing the "warm study hall" rather than the playground with his friends outside (Joyce 10). His rejection at school leads him to isolate himself in his schoolwork, thus putting himself on a scholarly path that will give him the intellectual skills necessary for the artist within him to achieve adulthood.
Stephen's Journey to Maturation in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
The novel starts right off with the notion of a love between a mother and son. Even at a young age Stephen is able to distinguish that his mother is a source of pure unabridged love. “His mother had a nicer smell than his father.”(1) At a very young age the artist is already beginning to form because of women, he is beginning to see beauty through the senses. “His mother put her lips on his cheek; her lips were soft and they wetted his cheek; and they made a tiny little noise: kiss.”(7) This scene occurs very early on with Stephens mother Mary Dedalus here and throughout the novel helps in teaching him right and wrong what is to be expected, but above all show him the capacity to love and understand what is to be loved unconditionally. Stephens mother is also is there in all the key moments in Stephens life; in his leaving to boarding school as a child, then in leaving to London. In these instances she shows perhaps an overprotectiveness toward him in the cleaning of his ears once already an adult, in advising him on friends and money throughout his youth while al...