Explore the ways Frayn uses multiple genre in his novel ‘Spies’.
Throughout ‘Spies’, Frayn introduces us to several key genres. As the reader we are unsure which of these is entirely central to the novel; however, three prominent genres seem to arise. We see ‘Spies’ primarily as a mystery novel, with the unfolding plot of the “German spy”, the truths that are yet to be found and the questions that are left unanswered. ‘Spies’ is also presented as a ‘coming-of-age’ novel: Stephen’s conflicting ideas of childhood and the adult world and his own journey into adolescence. Finally, the novel is portrayed as a work of philosophy: the ‘novel of ideas’. Concepts relating to this genre are conveyed through Frayn’s portrayal of the ambiguity of memory, the confusion of illusion and reality, and perception.
The concept of mystery is introduced to the reader in the very opening chapter of ‘Spies’, and remains with us throughout the novel. Stefan hints of a “secret thing…still waiting to be discovered”, but we are given no idea of what this might be; questions are left unanswered and it seems that even the narrator himself does not know quite why this “familiar breath of sweetness” is a “cue for such powerful feelings”. The mystery here is why the smell of the Liguster and the memories Stefan begins to reveal have affected him so much that he feels he must return to “bring them out into the daylight at last”.
The Essay on Analysis of Mrs Hayward from the Novel ‘Spies’ by Michael Frayn
How is the character of Mrs Hayward developed throughout the opening 3 chapter of Frayn’s ‘Spies’? Mrs Hayward is a contradictory character who is established through Stephen’s fragmented memory to be both a character of smiling perfection and a broken woman, sitting in the dust weeping. She is both the embodiment of a perfect British wartime wife and a character of suspicion; a spy, a traitor, ...
Frayn uses stylistic and linguistic devices to highlight the mystery genre at several points throughout ‘Spies’. As the mystery of the “German spy” commences and unfolds, unsettled thoughts begin to fabricate in the young Stephen’s mind: “the dark of the moon…I can feel it surrounding me, pressing against my eyes…”. The ellipses here hint to the reader that there is something still being left unexplained; a continuity of thought that we are unable to reach. Frayn uses this technique several times in the novel, as thoughts, concepts and ideas begin to form but are left unresolved and incomplete. The oxymoron of “the dark of the moon” also hints at mystery. It is in darkness that the mysterious plot and imaginary meetings of Keith’s mother and “a German courier” will take place, just as the reader is left in ‘darkness’ of the true meaning of most of the ideas explored throughout the novel until the very end.
‘Spies’ is largely based around silences and what is not revealed to the reader, and in this way the genre of mystery is portrayed very clearly. Even as an adult, Stefan is unable to divulge the extent of any his memories until the very end of the novel. He continues to ask questions, wondering how much the young Stephen understood “about what was going on”. His uncertainty causes confusion for the reader, and again the true nature of the events eludes us. The constant change in narration throughout ‘Spies’ also keeps the reader in suspense and adds to the tension built within the mystery genre.
Although many ideas remain unexplained for chapters at a time in Frayn’s novel, they are often repeated and this highlights the mystery genre, as it makes the reader more impatient to find the answers to questions and the outcome of the plot. Darkness is a recurring theme throughout ‘Spies’: the “night of no moon” is first mentioned as the boys look through Mrs Hayward’s diary. The darkness signifies the unknown, and as the plot develops and the mysterious comings and goings of Mrs Hayward seem more and more suspicious, so darkness becomes a greater feature of the novel. The tunnel in which Keith and Stephen discover the box is itself a dark and “gloomy” place, even in the daytime. When Stephen ventures into the tunnel alone, the reader is introduced to a new kind of obscurity. As the moon “sails behind a cloud”, Stephen is thrown into complete darkness and has to advance by touch and sound alone. Frayn’s use of first person narrative allows us only to see the world from Stephen’s point of view and so we are given an image of the tunnel created by the imagery of sounds and touch: “the harsh brickwork…the rusty links…the broken stalks”. Again, the use of ellipses here creates gaps that remain mysterious to the reader.
The Term Paper on Unknown: Genre and Historical Fiction
Crispin: the Cross of Lead. Falsely accused of theft and murder, an orphaned peasant boy in 14th-century England flees his village and meets a larger-than-life juggler who holds a dangerous secret. Newbery Medal. AR 7. 0/Level 5. 0. Historical Fiction. Avi. Nothing but the Truth: a Documentary Novel. A ninth-grader’s suspension for singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” during homeroom becomes a ...
The motif of the ‘X’ is also a recurring mystery in ‘Spies’. Stephen’s perception of the “value of x” seems to change rapidly: it represents the “German courier” who is meeting Mrs Hayward in secret every month; it is “the Judas kiss, the kiss of betrayal”; it is “a man in a grimy vest” in the Lanes, and it is a “shot-down German airman”. With so many changes and uncertainties, the reader becomes just as unsure of the mystery of the ‘X’ as Stephen is. The mystery genre works on more than one level in ‘Spies’; in certain places Frayn allows the reader greater insight than the characters themselves have. For instance, at first the reader is able to understand the significance of the crosses in the diary but Stephen and Keith do not. However, we become more uncertain about this as “the value of x” seems to change throughout the novel, and the mystery remains.
The coming-of-age genre can be tied closely to the genre of mystery in ‘Spies’. A central theme of the novel is the mystery of life: Stephen’s confusion between the adult and child worlds and his journey to adulthood. Throughout the novel the plot is revealed to the reader through two narrators: the young Stephen and the adult Stefan. For the most part this narration is separated, but sometimes we are able to see a glimpse of both the adult and the child in close proximity. As Stefan remembers and describes the appearance of Keith’s house we find a juxtaposition of both adult and child vocabulary: “stupid brothers and sisters” are referred to almost in the same breath as the “deliciously rightful scent of watchmaker’s oil”. However, the young Stephen does not find it easy to understand the adult world. As he comes to face more conflicting ideas, Stephen slowly learns what it means to be in an adult relationship, and he matures as the novel progresses.
The Term Paper on Malleable Memory
The study of memory dates back as far as the time of Ancient Greece, however, the birth of the study of memory is often credited to Ebbinghaus, who concentrated his research on memory store and capacity. The study of memory has had a long history, and still there are many myths associated with memory processes and the overall potential of memory. This paper will address one of the misconceptions ...
At first Stephen finds it difficult to know how to act in certain situations around adults. When Mrs Hayward first enters the lookout, Stephen does not know where to look or what to say: “in the silence that follows, as I go on trying not to look at her bosom…”. Also later, as Stephen tries to explain the thermos flask incident to Mrs Hayward he finds himself incapable of knowing how to refer to her husband in a way that is not “unsayable”: his tongue is “tied by a ticklish point of social semantics”.
It is Barbara Berrill who first introduces Stephen to the adult world by mentioning the concept of an adult having a boyfriend. Stephen finds this an “impossible idea”, but one that begins to prey on his mind more and more once Barbara has left, imagining that Mrs Hayward and Auntie Dee are “telling each other the kind of things that Deirdre and Barbara tell each other”. This is a concept Stephen has no way of accessing: he realises that he can watch adults from the lookout, but unlike Barbara Berrill he is unable to imagine what they could be thinking or saying. As they watch Mr and Mrs Hayward together, Barbara claims that “they’re having a terrible row”, but all Stephen can see is that “they’re talking quietly and reasonably”. Barbara Berrill has a much more knowing interpretation of adult life and Stephen begins to slowly adopt her views, as much as he first refuses to accept her “speculations about the behaviour” of Keith.
Before Stephen even begins to mature in this way, he has already started to embrace some ideas of the expectations of boys and men. He refers to the “long examination board of childhood” and understands that as a male he must “show courage” and prove himself fit “for man’s estate”. These early ideas of the pressures and expectations of men show an understanding that Stephen will later be able to have for the man trapped the Barns, simply “looking for refuge”.
The Essay on Case History Find Memory
History is always a good one in this respect. Have a read of Carr's "What is History"- particulary the chapter about the importance of the historian in history. Posts: 533 Report Post | IP: Logged 4 Weeks Ago (In reply to: Tok essay! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ) Unregistered 1 Guest Quote: Originally Posted by muff e I have an example you can use, look into the "memory of H 2 O" case. I looked around for ...
Keith’s mother herself also acts as a basis for Stephen’s spiritual journey into adulthood in ‘Spies’. As she begins to reveal her dilemma to him he realises how “she’s had to humiliate herself” by entering the lookout. With the help of Barbara Berrill’s ideas of the adult world and his own developing relationship with Keith’s mother, Stephen is able to comprehend the importance of the man in the Barns and his relationship with Mrs Hayward. He imagines that Keith’s mother has taken the man “to her bosom”, and he links this almost immediately with his feelings for Barbara and the name “Lamorna”. Stephen is finally able to relate to emotions he had previously been unable to access, and understand the extent of Mrs Hayward’s difficulty.
However, a certain amount of Stephen’s coming-of-age is achieved on his own. By deciding to travel through the tunnel without Keith, Stephen is able to act alone and think for himself; he is maturing. Nevertheless, he still feels that he is carrying out this “heroic deed” for Keith in order to clear away his “weaknesses and errors”. Despite Keith’s constant bullying, Stephen begins to realise that he himself is a vital part of their relationship: if Keith does not have Stephen to command, “there is no one for him to be braver than”. We begin to realise that Stephen is much braver and more “heroic” than Keith morally. He has a greater idea of “honour”, and the fact that Mrs Hayward trusts Stephen to “preserve her secret” causes him a great amount of anguish in choosing between his loyalty to Keith and his moral duty to keep his word.
A final key genre in ‘Spies’ is the ‘novel of ideas’. Frayn’s work can be seen as philosophical for many reasons; the most prominent of these concepts are his comments on memory and its unreliability. Many of the situations looked back on by Stefan are built up around “vivid particulars”; he comments that his memory “isn’t a narrative at all” until he is able to find the “hidden links” between certain moments. However, it seems that this task is difficult for the adult narrator. He is able to clearly see “the four blue beads that weighted the lace cloth covering the tall jug”, but is unsure where he was or when it was that this memory appeared: “have I got everything back to front?” Frayn suggests that we cannot control our own memories: we may be able to remember some things vividly but to put a series of events in order is more difficult that may at first be perceived. This leads us to question how far we ca trust our narrator to give an exact account of events. The adult Stefan’s view is blurred and uncertain, and though Stephen’s perception of things is much more direct and ordered, we are only able to gain an account of events from the observation of a child.
The Essay on Stephen King Biography Success Million Time
Stephen King's first novel would never have been published if not for his wife Tabitha - she removed it from the garbage where he had thrown it. Three months later when he submitted it to Doubleday publishing, he received a $2500 advance on the book that went on to sell a modest 13, 000 hardcover copies. The book was Carrie. Reviews were mixed, but when United Artists and Brian De Palma released ...
Frayn explores the ease with which we can access our own memories: at some points throughout the novel the past seems to be “rematerialising out of the air itself” before Stefan. He sees himself as a child “entirely in monochrome”, recognised only from “old black-and-white snaps”; but the significance here is the fact that he is looking at himself from another timeframe – he sees himself within a memory as if from a photograph, rather than being placed inside the mind of Stephen as a child. There are also many times at which Stefan is transformed into the young Stephen again and recounts memories exactly as they happened from his child’s perspective; sometimes it is difficult to tell which narrator has recommenced the story as we are met by conflicting adult and child voices in the description. However, much of the time Stefan finds it difficult to remember when and where his memories took place and again we are unsure how far we can trust our narrator to give an accurate account.
In ‘Spies’ the two narrators are essential for an audience to understand the overall meaning of any situation. We often need to see two separate perceptions to grasp the enormity of a moment, as we find when Keith’s mother enters the lookout alone with Stephen for the final time. We receive this entirely through the narration of Stefan, but the memories of the adult and young Stephen collide as one: “She’s changed in some way. I remember noticing that at once”. However, only the adult Stefan can understand “to quite what extremity she must have been driven” to meet with him and “to ask a child for help”.
The Essay on Should Parents Spend More Time with Their Children
In China, both of the parents have their jobs. With the development of economy, people tend to pursue high quality living conditions. Most of the parents try their best to offer their children comfortable circumstances, but they seldom have time to stay with their children. In my point of view, no matter how busy they are, they should make the best use of their time to stay with their children. ...
Frayn also addresses several minor philosophical points through Stefan as the adult narrator. He questions “what it means to understand something” and suggests that there is more to what we see than the amount of information we are able to comprehend at a glance: often we can only make assumptions for abstract concepts. This reflective section of the text, after the bullying episode of Keith and Stephen to the man in the Barns, is one of the first times we have a series of questions that are actually answered. However, Stefan is still unable to come to any single conclusion or decision about Stephen’s feelings at the time; he finds himself incapable of articulating how much he understood as a boy. Stephen knew that the “silent, unseen presence in the Barns…was a German”, but he also knew that “he was an old tramp”. However, he insists that the mystery of x was never both a German and a tramp: these were simply “two quite unrelated things”. These concepts of knowledge and understanding are introduced to the reader as a moment to step back from the focus of the plot and reflect on the incidents that have recently occurred.
Another philosophical idea explored by Frayn is how civilisations change over time. As Stefan returns to the Avenue “half a century” later he finds that “the stringy prunus saplings” are now “wise and dignified trees”. In the Close itself, Stefan is surprised to find that “everything is as it was…and everything has changed”. A “shock of familiarity” hits him as he enters the Close, but this soon subsides and he realises that “it’s changed completely”. There is no longer a tangle of “luxuriant growth” in front of every house; the mystery of each “separate kingdom” has vanished with time and Stefan feels that “even the sky has changed”.
By using multiple genre in his novel, Frayn is able to interweave the mystery, coming-of-age and philosophical topics together to create a tale that is gripping, moving and reflective. Stylistic techniques such as the two perspectives of narration are used to highlight the effectiveness of these genres: we are able to feel the tension that the young Stephen experiences as well as gaining the insight and thoughts of Stefan as a grown man. Frayn applies all of these factors successfully throughout ‘Spies’ and as an audience we are satisfied with the use of multiple genre and the outcome of the plot.
