The novel “The Book of Evidence” by John Banville is the self narrated story of Frederick Montgomery, a narcissistic, largely immoral, cultured scientist from Ireland who tells his life story through the first person point of view and recalls the events leading up to his arrest for the murder of a servant girl. The story starts out with Frederick in jail trying to recall how he ended up there, thinking about all of the life events that lead him to this point in time. After studying abroad for some time, marrying his wife and having a child, he decides to leave his life of culture and become a drifter throughout the mediterranean islands, participating in a number of legally questioning activities. Frederick then goes through a bad experience
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This book is told through the first person point of view, giving us an insight into the thoughts and feelings of the main character. Throughout the novel, Frederick tells his life story from his own point of view, allowing us to understand the decisions he makes. However, his reasoning behind some decisions he makes during his life are still unclear because Frederick himself doesn't know why he makes them. As he picks up the hammer to hit the girl with, a sort of power comes over him that he is not used to. He is “filled with a kind of wonder.” and has “never felt another’s presence so immediately and with such raw force”(113). This shows how just having that power of someone over someone else’s life is something he enjoys. When questioned on the murder, he tells the cops that he killed her “because [he] could kill her and [he] could kill her because to [him] she was not alive,” showing his lack of human …show more content…
Montgomery describes his surroundings in a way that lets the reader know how he feels at that moment and how he feels about that particular place. The setting that is most prominent is the story is the physical setting. Banville uses very descriptive words and high vocabulary to portray the emotions that are connected to or that go along with the setting being described. Much like the character descriptions, it allows the reader an inside look into how Frederick feels about each place he visits. The author uses stunning visual descriptions when describing the Behrens estate as he looks through the window for the first time. He describes the scenery on the outside like the “river whitening,” and “vague mountains” along with the “limitless, gilded blue of summer”(77). These scenic pictures appear to him to be questionable and “seemed not to recede as they should, but to be arrayed before [him]”(77). The image the author creates by these descriptions show his emotions toward the house and also the people inside. The scenery reviews personal details about the character and references Frederick’s self-centered personality, how he thinks that even the setting around him is only there for his pleasure. The Dominate element, the point of view of first person, helps in determining how the character feels throughout the novel. Also, the
This book is told through the first person point of view, giving us an insight into the thoughts and feelings of the main character. Throughout the novel, Frederick tells his life story from his own point of view, allowing us to understand the decisions he makes. However, his reasoning behind some decisions he makes during his life are still unclear because Frederick himself doesn't know why he makes them. As he picks up the hammer to hit the girl with, a sort of power comes over him that he is not used to. He is “filled with a kind of wonder.” and has “never felt another’s presence so immediately and with such raw force”(113). This shows how just having that power of someone over someone else’s life is something he enjoys. When questioned on the murder, he tells the cops that he killed her “because [he] could kill her and [he] could kill her because to [him] she was not alive,” showing his lack of human …show more content…
Montgomery describes his surroundings in a way that lets the reader know how he feels at that moment and how he feels about that particular place. The setting that is most prominent is the story is the physical setting. Banville uses very descriptive words and high vocabulary to portray the emotions that are connected to or that go along with the setting being described. Much like the character descriptions, it allows the reader an inside look into how Frederick feels about each place he visits. The author uses stunning visual descriptions when describing the Behrens estate as he looks through the window for the first time. He describes the scenery on the outside like the “river whitening,” and “vague mountains” along with the “limitless, gilded blue of summer”(77). These scenic pictures appear to him to be questionable and “seemed not to recede as they should, but to be arrayed before [him]”(77). The image the author creates by these descriptions show his emotions toward the house and also the people inside. The scenery reviews personal details about the character and references Frederick’s self-centered personality, how he thinks that even the setting around him is only there for his pleasure. The Dominate element, the point of view of first person, helps in determining how the character feels throughout the novel. Also, the