When reading this book, I agree with the prompt's argument that the introduction, "Strangers", was easy to skip over and not dive deeply into with analysis. However, after being asked to go back and look at its significance, I think that this subsection of the book starts the story in a very interesting way. At first glance, I considered this introduction to act as a hook: the vivid descriptions of the poor living conditions aboard the ship acts as a way to draw readers in and make them wonder "How did Thornhill get here? Where is he going? What will he do now?" Or, at the very least, it made me wonder these things. After further analysis, I think "Strangers" introduces overarching themes of the book that will come up later. For example, we can see that Thornhill is reminiscing on his home in London. From his discontent, it's clear that going to Australia is not seen by him as an opportunity to start fresh, but rather a barrier to overcome. I think that, after reading the "London" section, it's interesting to consider how, despite his life in In my opinion, it would make sense for him to see New South Wales as an opportunity to restart with his wife and children. Additionally, the decrepit state of his home aboard the boat seems to be an introduction to his state of poverty that is an important part of the book. I'm excited to see how, as I continue reading the book, if I will see any other connections between the introduction and themes in the rest of the book.
Hi Audrey! I agree that this sections was a super good hook to the rest of the story and definitely caught my attention. I was also left with multiple questions I wanted answers to. It is also interesting to note that usually a journey is seen as a metaphor for a new beginning, however, in this story it seems almost like a backwards step. I'm interested to see in what ways Thornhill will grow from this experience and how his life will be affected.
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey! I agree with you completely about the purpose of the introduction. It is a classic hook to start a story somewhere in the middle where there is high tension and action and then bring us back in time to see how the characters got there. But I also think you're right about setting up themes. The Strangers chapter seems to prime us for the London chapter. Without knowing where Thornhill was going to end up, we wouldn't be thinking about his life in London the same. After the Strangers chapter we subconsciously are looking for connections to Thornhill's life and London and what type of person he will be once he ends up in New South Wales.
ReplyDeleteThe strange thing about this opening as a "hook" though is that it's so hard to connect to or remember--some readers even skip over it! I think it's retrospectively a hook...
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