The Crane Wife Essay

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness is a story that revolves around a man, his daughter, and a strange woman who comes into their lives. The story begins with a chapter about George Duncan, a very generous man in his late forties who never asks for anything in return for his help. George Duncan comes face to face with a crane (a large bird) who has been pierced by an arrow. Being the generous and considerate man he is, George decides to help this poor bird and thus the story begins. The Crane Wife explores themes of truth, love, and sacrifice and it is a wonderful take one the original japanese folk tale.

This novel by Patrick Ness is based of the Japanese folktale in which a man saves a crane and then meets the woman of his dreams the next day. The woman, noticing their need …show more content…
The addition of the strange woman, changes George from a generous and giving man, to someone who understands the need to take. George’s newfound love for this woman takes up a majority of his time and his longing to know her every secret soon becomes his undoing. George's daughter, Amanda, also changed throughout the course of the story. She starts as a troubled young mother who is still in love with her ex-husband. As the story progresses, she learns more about herself and all of her faults. Her need for love becomes clear as the strange woman appears and Amanda’s troubles seem to stand by.

This novel is executed well, and is able to very clearly show its original story and themes of truth, love, and change. The concepts might have been too mature for me to handle, but I enjoyed reading the novel very much. The novel was very thought provoking and it challenged me to think about a lot of the themes, more than any other novel has before. The characters and stories told in this novel created a feeling of learning new things and I believe that it is a wonderful story for those who like novels of this