Brad Philpot - Cambridge University Press

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Text 6.4 The Collector, John Fowles, 1963 John Fowles was the son of a veteran of the First World War. He was gifted in languages and athletics, which became apparent while he was at Bedford School during the years of the Second World War. He completed his navy officer training on Victory in Europe Day in 1945. In 1947, after two years of military service, he went to Oxford University to study French. In 1947 he wrote: I … began to hate what I was becoming in life – a British Establishment young hopeful. I decided instead to become a sort of anarchist. He was interested in Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and the ideas of existentialism. After leaving university he taught in Greece but he quarrelled with the school. He returned to England, got married and was teaching English as a foreign language when he wrote The Collector. The story is about a young man, Frederick Clegg, who kidnaps a young girl, Miranda Grey. The story is told twice, from the perspective of each of the characters. The extract below contains the very last lines of the novel. They are told by Frederick after Miranda has died of pneumonia. The days passed, it is now three weeks since all that. Of course I shall never have a guest again, although now Aunt Annie and Mabel have decided to stay Down Under, it would not be difficult. Still as a matter of interest I have since been looking into the problems there would be with the girl in Woolworths. She lives in a village the other side of Lewes from here, in a house a quarter mile or so from the bus-stop. You have to go along a country-lane to get to it. As I say, it would be possible (if I hadn’t learnt my lesson). She isn’t as pretty as Miranda, of course, in fact she’s only an ordinary common shop-girl, but that was my mistake before, aiming too high, I ought to have seen that I could never get what I wanted from someone like Miranda, with all her la-di-da ideas and clever tricks. I ought to have got someone who would respect me more. Someone ordinary I could teach. She is in the box I made, under the appletrees. It took me three days to dig the hole. I thought I would go mad the night I did it (went down and got her in the box I made and outside). I don’t think many could have done it. I did it scientific. I planned what had to be done and ignored my natural feelings. I couldn’t stand the idea of having to look at her again, I once heard they go green and purple in patches, so I went in with a cheap blanket I bought in front of me and held it out till I was by the bed and then threw it over the deceased. I rolled it up and all the bedclothes into the box and soon had the lid screwed on. I got round the smell with fumigator and the fan. The room’s cleaned out now and good as new. I shall put what she wrote and her hair up in the loft in the deed-box which will not be opened till my death, so I don’t expect for forty or fifty years. I have not made up my mind about Marian (another M! I heard the supervisor call her name), this time it won’t be love, it would just be for the interest of the thing and to compare them and also the other thing, which as I say I would like to go into in more detail and I could teach her how. And the clothes would fit. Of course I would make it clear from the start who’s boss and what I expect. But it is still just an idea. I only put the stove down there today because the room needs drying out anyway. Chapter 6 The context of composition Key term Existentialism is the philosophy that individuals are responsible for defi ning their own existence and giving their life meaning. Existential literary works often include troubled protagonists who question the meaning of life. Figure 6.4 John Fowles (1926–2005). He once wrote, I ... began to hate what I was becoming in life … I decided instead to become a sort of anarchist. Sample © Cambridge University Press 2011 discussion 1 Find evidence of the three characteristics of modernism in Text 6.4. 2 How does the narrator draw you into his world? 3 What kind of person is the narrator? Give examples to illustrate your ideas. 4 How does Text 6.4 refl ect John Fowles’s interest in modernism and anarchy? 145
Part 3 – Literature: texts and contexts Figure 6.5 Albert Camus (1913–60), a source of inspiration for John Fowles. 146 There are, of course, many literary movements, and not just that of modernism that you have looked at so far in this unit. The following is a list of some other literary movements. beat poetry Dadaism existentialism First World War poetry Harlem renaissance imagism lost generation writers metaphysical poetry modernism post-colonialism post-modernism realism Renaissance Romanticism surrealism Victorian literature Activity 6.4 As you study the contexts in which your Part 3 texts were written, you will want to learn more about the sources that inspired the authors. Albert Camus, Jean- Paul Sartre, the ideas of existentialism and the Theatre of the Absurd inspired John Fowles. Read Text 6.5, an extract from The Stranger by Albert Camus, to see how Fowles might have been inspired. Find out about existentialism and the Theatre of the Absurd in order to gain a deeper understanding of both Texts 6.4 and 6.5. Here are some questions to consider when comparing and contrasting the two texts: 1 How are the personal lives of the authors different? How are they similar? Can you see how their lives are reflected through their writing? 2 Both stories are told in the first person, or the ‘I’ form, from the perspective of the main characters (the murderers). How are Frederick Clegg and Meursault similar in their thoughts and actions? How are they different? 3 Read the short summaries of the main ideas of existentialism and the Theatre of the Absurd. Can you find evidence of these ideas in the two texts? Existentialism A philosophy that focuses on the condition of the individual person: their thoughts, emotions, responsibilities and actions. Only an individual can give their life meaning. In order to give their life meaning, the individual must overcome existential obstacles such as fear, alienation, boredom and absurdity. Sample The Theatre of the Absurd A movement comprising plays written by playwrights who believed human existence has no meaning in a godless world. The mismatch between people’s urge to give their lives meaning and the meaninglessness of life often results in absurd situations. Text 6.5 The Stranger, Albert Camus, 1942 Albert Camus came from a poor, pied noir family (of French origin) in Algeria. His father died in the First World War; his mother, of Spanish descent, was half deaf. Just years after joining the French Communist Party in 1935, Camus was kicked out for © Cambridge University Press 2011
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Brad Philpot - Cambridge University Press

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