In my opinion, the climax of the novel is the point where Bill Masen and his rather small colony leaves Shirning in secrecy to escape Mr. Torrence and his men, and join the much larger community of Michael Beadley.
I personally admire Bill Masen in this sense because his decision of leaving Shirning was definitely not an easy one—I certainly don’t think I could have done it. Shirning had become home to him, if one could have such a thing in a world where what you take wa
s yours to keep. It was the place where Bill finally found Josella after all the months he had been searching desperately for her. Shirning was also the place where Bill and Josella made the fruit of their love – David, their son. And Shirning was the only location where Bill felt safe in, although he and Susan had to strain in order to achieve such safety. Analogically speaking, it would have been like leaving a town that you spent all your childhood years in.Because of Shirning’s invaluableness to Bill, my anger turned on Mr Torrence—the reason why Bill’s group had to leave. I remember gritting my teeth on the thought that if it weren’t for Torrence and his men, Bill could have continued to dwell in what they considered their home.
However, such feelings were smothered as I read on, because I learned that joining Michael Beadley’s well-organized colony was ultimately more beneficial to him and his mates than staying. Their chance of survival would most probably be radically higher, and Bill and Josella would be delighted to reunite with Coker and Michael. In that sense, one could say that I felt relieved.
Another very important feeling that was present inside me throughout the entire novel was a suspenseful feeling. The writer uses incredible word-choice to make suspense accumulate inside his readers until the resolution, where it all explodes.
Other more obvious emotions I felt because of the events of this novel were sadness, loneliness, regret, and hope—all of these will be discussed in depth in my 5th blog.
2 comments:
Yeah I agree that the climax was at that point. It was the point of no return for Bill and his family. I shared your emotion towards Torrence and your thoughts toward the benefits of the move. I think Wyndham did a good job putting the climax at the end to show Bill's unending journey towards the preservation of the human race. It was a memorable cimax.
I have the same thought as you for the climax. I don't think any other part of the book was as intense as this. I liked the way you related this as to leaving your hometown. Maybe, just home. Home is where you rest after all the hard work of the day. Leaving your house hoping for a better future is pretty hard for me.
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