The Machine Gunners

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The Machine Gunners

English Essay

During his lifetime, Robert Westall has published over thirty books. His first book, The Machine Gunners won the Carnegie Medal in 1975. The author grew up during the Second World War also the book’s setting so his novel, “The Machine Gunners” echoes the author’s experiences and feelings of the war but the book’s plot and location are fictional. The book and plot are based around the finding of a spoil of war, crashed among a German’s plane ruin, a boy named Chas discovers a machine gun. The book follows Chas and his friends as they cleverly outwit their families and the law. Their maturity in their decisions and a sense of realism grips the reader.

   The book’s plot outlines Chas’s schemes which start when he finds a shot down German plane complete with a working machine gun. Chas’s idea of turning this against the Germans leads him to steal the gun and build a fortress with it. Then come the clever plans to gain allies and a location for their haven. Whilst this, they (Chas and his friends) also outwit the police who are suspicious of their activities. The plot twists as a German survivor is found, clues linking them to the machine gun are found and a possible invasion is imminent.

   The author’s skill in the description of action scenes is particularly attractive. The way he cleverly uses metaphors casts a effective image inside the readers’ mind, so the reader can relate to the scene in the same way as the author imagined it. The reader finds himself enrolled in the book due to the powerful, rich and aggressive nature of the settings. Descriptions of even the air raids such as when the bombs start falling, “thunder boots” describing the relentless power and striking of the bombs conveys a truly dark scene. The readers’ feelings also change as the writer moves from the striking of the bombs to Chas’ feelings of being like “Two small flies” giving a sensation of vulnerability and “across a white tablecloth” gives a scale of how visible they are among the battle. The tension that builds up among the frightening scenes and a possible approaching death is cleverly forgotten as the author inserts humorous scenes that lightens the mood but doesn’t diminish its seriousness.

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   The story’s central character, Chas McGill is not a saint among heroes. He is more of a flawed character despite being well intentioned, makes ill-natured decisions that lead to others getting hurt. When it comes to deceitful tricks he shows a intelligence beyond the average boy even in the most pressured situations, the reader cannot deny the impressive and momentary decisions he makes. He shows that he has a instinct for lying as lies come to his slippery tongue as fast as the truth. Depending on his subject such as the policeman, Fatty Hardy, Chas appeals to the policeman’s ...

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