42 marks

Many narratives have one or more significant moments of crisis.

Write about the significance of crises in the work of the three writers you have studied. (42 marks)

In the Road the crises physically threaten the characters as they continue their journey towards the coast. They are all significant to the world that McCarthy has created as they highlight the key struggles that the characters must overcome. The first of these crisis appears as the Road Rat and is significant as it is the first sight of other people in the story. The menacing appearance of the men ‘wearing canister masks’ and armed with ‘lengths of pipe’, is drawn out to add to the tension through short sentences. Tension is also held from the previous event where the man remembers the death of the woman and the birth of the boy and suspense is created as the group of men get closer. The Road Rat himself appears to be derived from references to low culture and has a strong Southern American dialect that is stereotypical of horror films. A lot is also learnt about the man during this crisis, the language he uses is very specific such as ‘colliculus and temporal gyrus’ which adds to the enigma surrounding his past. The man’s actions as he ‘dropped to the ground’ and ‘fired’ are very precise and trained, again adding to his enigma. Tension is once again created as they have to run but the sense of danger is juxtaposed by the image of the boy on the father’s shoulders. Another crisis runs throughout the book in the form of the inconsistent supply of food. At different points in the novel the man and boy find themselves starving, this crisis is different to the threats brought on by men as they can’t run away from it and the man and the boy find themselves continuing down the Road trying to find food. Food not only important for their survival but the boy believes that food should be shared and offers supplies to some of the travellers they meet, including Eli, this shows the boy’s empathy and concern for others that makes him different from the man who is reluctant to give up their supplies. While the crisis is diverted when they find food, specifically in the bunker when they were closest to starvation, it is always a problem for them.

A major crisis in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner appears at the start of the Mariner’s punishment. The ship is unable to move upon the ‘painted ocean’ after the crew justify the Mariner’s act as ‘right’. It is significant as it can be interpreted as the start of the punishment and the Mariner’s fall from grace for killing the Albatross. The lack of clean water for them to drink is linked to the symbolic nature of water as a cleanser however it is a crisis for the crew who start to die of thirst. The crisis is increased with the arrival of death and she-life in death who change the Mariner and killed the crew and starts the Mariner’s isolation as part of his punishment. This is significant because only the Mariner is left alive to witness ‘four times fifty’ dead men ‘curse me with his eye’.  These crisis are both linked to the Mariner’s punishment for killing the Albatross and continually increase the danger for the Mariner. However when the crises seem to be over and he can pray again and the ship begins to move back to land the Mariner appears to face another crisis as a voice warns that he has done penance ‘and penance more will do’ which forebodes that the punishment is not yet over and when the ship reaches land the Mariner almost drowns as the ‘ship went down like lead.’ While this relates back to the Albatross that ‘sank like lead’ it shows that part of the spell is being broken but is a crisis as the Mariner would have drown if not for the Hermit, Pilot and the Pilot’s son.

The critical crisis in the Great Gatsby is the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby which leads onto Myrtle and Gatsby’s deaths. F. Scott Fitzgerald increased the tension in the lead up to the confrontation through the oppressive heat and restricted speech as they all have lunch, the tension is mainly created between Tom and Gatsby as Daisy reveals her fondness for Gatsby, ‘you look cool… you always look cool’ and ‘we’ll follow in the coupe’ which makes Tom mad. Tom’s anger is again increased when he finds out Wilson plans to move away with Myrtle and he is losing control. The confrontation itself could be interpreted as a turning point as both Daisy is forced to pick between Tom and Gatsby and can’t do it. This is also the point where Gatsby knows that his love isn’t completely reciprocated as Daisy still loves Tom. It is when Gatsby and Daisy leave that Myrtle is hit by their car resulting in her death. Myrtle’s death endangers Gatsby who takes the blame in order to protect Daisy. Gatsby is mistaken by Wilson for Myrtle’s lover and is led on by Tom resulting in both his and Gatsby’s death.