Literary Analysis #3

The Devil and Miss Prym

Paulo Coehlo

TOPICS AND EVENTS

1)      My book was about a man who throughout the novel was referred to as ‘the stranger’ due to the fact that he had given false information when he arrived at the hotel. He was characterized as the devil while he visited that small secluded village for a week that consisted of about 200 people. His goal was to discover if human beings were innately good or evil. These people were said to be kind-hearted good people, but looks can be deceiving. His proposal was simply to commit a murder in exchange for twelve gold bars that could change that entire villages’ future for years and years to come. As expected, at least for I, the town eventually chose a victim and referred to the process as a ‘ritual sacrifice’ for the sake of the village which is indeed all nonsense because no one can justify an innocent murder. Basically, he brought forth a challenge to these townspeople tempting them to fight with their god and evil dogs within them as the Native American man described in Dr. Preston’s journal topic today.

2)      My author chose to write about this specific topic because it is a universal theme that every human will encountered since both sides are powerful and even-weighted throughout society. I believe the author wanted to prove the point that all human beings are innately good and evil, but that evil usually wins the fight in the end due to lack of control. We fall into temptation easily with very little thought which is not right.

3)      I first chose the book because of the front cover. It looked very mysterious and interesting so I picked it up and decided to take a look at the back cover and read the overall plot. I decided I was going to read it the minute I saw it was about human beings being good and evil because that was a topic that had interested me much in the previous years that I never quite got into. Once I began reading, I could not stop because I could easily relate to the characters’ feelings and thoughts.

4)      The book was definitely realistic. I could relate to the temptation in exchange for wealth. The book is a mere example of something that has either occurred to all of us or will occur to all of us since all human beings possess the same emotions and for the most part think and act similarly.   

PEOPLE

1)      Yes, the author and the narrator both impose their own opinions based on personal observations which for the most part are both relevant and necessary for the content. The author chose to write about this particular book with this specific setting to prove that the most evil can be conducted in the places where we least expect it-a small remote village. His choices were perfect because we can compare them to our own lifestyles and settings. The tone of the author is quite suspenseful because during the entire book you are reading to see what is next anxious with curiosity. It tells us that deep down inside we truly all feel the same feelings but are too afraid to express them.

2)      Stranger- It is already curious and suspicious enough the fact that his real name is never once mentioned at all and that he would pay his hotel bills all with cash money instead of credit cards so technically we really knew nothing about this guy at all or who he could have been, yet the inhabitants of Viscos were completely clueless. The stranger is said to look friendly and maintains a strong physique. He had lost his wife and two lovely daughters’ to the guns of some armed terrorists for no reason whatsoever.

Chantal- She is the protagonist in the story and even though she does not want to take part of this so-called evil plan, she had really no other choice than to. She came to realize that most of the things the stranger filled her tiny little head with were true and she change almost instantly. She went from loving her village and townspeople to straight sending each and every one of them to hell and wanting to depart as soon as she had a chance. Her appearance was said to be an attractive young woman who was known to sleep around with the hotel visitor’s yet still maintained a good work ethic. She was an orphan since birth and had lived up until them a very lonely unsatisfactory life.

Berta- She was the innocent chosen victim from the village who did nothing but look out for the town and do the best she could to protect them. Although she was pretty useless in the village and could not really do much since she was incapable of doing so due to her incapability and elderliness, she was still a good woman who caused harm to absolutely no one. She was short and chubby. Her husband had passed away fifteen years ago and was lonely as well. Many townspeople believed she was a witch yet no one had ever witnessed a thing.

3)      The thing about these characters that makes them interesting enough to ride about is the fact that they all obtain such realistic characteristics as far as personalities and luck situations. We all have can relate to their misfortunes in a way maybe not as grave but enough to place ourselves in their shoes and truly feel how they felt and understand why they do the things they do. I find it ironic that all three of them were lonely. They could die the next day and no one would care because they had no one left in their lives.

CHARACTER

1)      Direct Characterization- An example would be when they physically describe each character, giving us their physical perspective. Another would be the times Chantal had to the courage to tell the stranger certain things she feared to tell him yet she still did because that tells us enough about her character to conclude that she is very brave regardless of the circumstances.

Indirect Characterization- An example would be when the final victim was chosen. They did not refer to them specifically but indirectly and that told us that almost all in that room were cowards for not having the guts to do so. Another example would be when Chantal decides to go with the stranger deep into the first knowing there could be trouble ahead but doing so anyways. By this action we can infer that she likes to take risks and lets us know that she does not have a boring personality.

Authors will always use both examples of characterization in order to allow the reader to make inferences and identify key facts about each and every one of the characters in the story.

2)      The author’s syntax and diction does not really change when speaking from character to character. He describes them all in depth and manages to portray them as equals not giving one more credit than the other.

3)      The protagonist holds a dynamic ground throughout the entire novel. Her personality and ideas changes multiple times throughout the course of the story which gives insight into her intellectual flexibility.

4)      After reading the book, I definitely did feel like I had gotten to know the protagonist as well as the antagonist extremely well. A quote from the antagonist went like this, “In the first place, you shouldn't believe in promises. The world is full of them: the promises of riches, of eternal salvation, of infinite love. Some people think they can promise anything, others accept whatever seems to guarantee better days ahead, as, I suspect is your case. Those who make promises they don't keep end up powerless and frustrated, and exactly the fate awaits those who believe promises.” I love this guy and I totally feel for him. The way he tells it like it is makes me aware of the fact that he is an honest man who has learned this lesson the hard way encountering many issues in life and making conclusions based on evidence.

STYLE

1)      There was no type of foreshadowing in the novel because the things that happened next I was not prepared for and were completely unexpected.  His style of writing was neither journalistic nor fictional just sort of all realistic, almost too realistic.

2)      The author is balanced when it comes to describing characters and locations as well as action and dialogue because everything was occurring simultaneously.

3)      The author utilizes suspense to create a tone. Never does he give it away so that it will be easy enough for the reader to make a prediction and that I liked because it made the book interesting.

4)      I felt like the author’s attitude toward the characters was a shameful one and disappointing one since they failed the test proving to be evil human beings which explored a route most people in society would take. He was sort of scorning them for it and tis is why he wrote this book but then again he was only there to explain the truth whether we liked or wanted to hear it or not.

5)       He utilized a very old-fashioned style location with social historical references to create the perfect aura to set the mood for the plot.

ENDURING MEMORY

            “When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready.” Oh my sweet Jesus. I can totally relate to this quote at this specific point in my life right now. I am experiencing a process that many my age refuse to accept and ignore for the most part and that is the transition from child to adult, although we may believe we have desired this all our lives, we obviously had no clue what it was life and want to remain as adolescents but we have no other choice than to accept the fact that we need to flee the nest, I just never thought it would be so difficult. “If you want to control someone, all you have to do is make them feel afraid.” I will always remember this for obvious reasons, well I am a very controlling person and have utilized this theory on others and I can tell you it works perfectly. “Ahab really understood human nature: it isn’t the desire to abide by the law that makes everyone behave as society requires, but the fear of punishment.” Until now I had not realized how important and how true this was, proving that human beings are innately evil. The novel concluded that as far as making good and evil decisions, it was all a matter of control, and choice. The main themes were fear, temptation and of course good and evil, explored perfectly in this novel. I would not know a better way of explaining such complex concepts. Overall the book was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone else who questions human behavior.