english essay on the gathering

English Essay

Does Fantasy model courage in adversity for readers or is it simply a means of escape? Discuss with reference to ‘The Gathering’.

Fantasy shows courage in adversity but can also be a means of escape for the reader. This is shown in ‘The Gathering’ as the characters are very real, and experience problems that could happen in everyday life. For example, at the end of the book when the gathering and the chain were in the abattoir the Kraken told, and helped Nathanial remember that his father had tried to kill him by strangling him. Therefore people look up to the characters for courage. Some things however are too extreme for normal life so it could just be a book made for the reader’s enjoyment. Therefore in ‘The Gathering there are morals about courage uniting as one to beat evil, etc, but that doesn’t change the the meaning of the story and what the characters represent.

Fantasy shows the readers courage in difficult times so people can look up to the characters courage, in those difficult times to help them be more courageous in their lives. This is represented in ‘The Gathering’ when the old man (that was with his wife) said “You are from Cheshunt but that does not frighten me. I know all about these gangs that come from Cheshunt to terrorise Ericidoune”. (Old man, Page 116) this shows that the old man is courageous as he is standing up to the younger, stronger children that are threatening to come and teach him and his wife a lesson if he doesn’t back down. Also when the chain are at the beach and they have just had a swim “Nissa didn’t hesitate she threw off the jumper, dived in and started to swim out after him.” This shows that Nissa didn’t hesitate and think about what could happen to her, she just ran and started swimming to save Seth, this is very courageous. This shows up that fantasy shows the readers courage in adversity however we cannot forget that it can be written for the reader’s enjoyment.

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Fantasy is sometimes written for the reader’s enjoyment as readers need enjoyment in reading so they don’t get bored, so fantasy stories are written as a means of escape. In ‘The Gathering’, Isobelle Carmody may have taken real life issues and exaggerated them to make it seem more fantasy like. For example, in reality police might beat up innocent people (minus the times where they have to protect themselves) but they would not hold someone, especially a young child so a dog can attack them. Then charge them for something that did not happen, like what happened to Danny when he was young. “So they held me down, belted me with their sticks and then they held me while the dog attacked me.” (Danny, Page 120). The bullies in ‘The Gathering’ such as Buddha and others from The Gathering (the Youth Group) would not be sent by teachers and the principal to beat people up and burn houses, and definitely sent to burn a live innocent animal like when Buddha lit The Tod on fire in front of Nathanial. Teachers and the principal would be trying to stop that sort of behavior not trying to increase it. This is one section of the book that has been exaggerated, a lot. All this shows us that fantasy books are written for the reader’s enjoyment, sometimes however books could also be written so the readers have someone with a lot of courage to look up to, especially if they aren’t very courageous.

Fantasy is shown in adversity but is also written for the reader’s enjoyment. People can look at a book in two ways. One that it is a book written for their enjoyment or two so they have a character or figure to look up at even though it is not a real person. When I read ‘The Gathering’ I looked at the book as a fantasy book, a book that I could enjoy, not a book that shows courage in difficult times so that I can look up at the characters for more courage. However some people may have looked at the book, in fact at a lot of books for courage rather than for enjoyment. Therefore I think that fantasy stories are written for fun and for the reader’s enjoyment rather than to model courage.

Fantasy stories can be written for many reason’s, two of them being for the reader’s enjoyment or to model courage in adversity for the reader’s to look up to. From the evidence I have shown in early paragraphs fantasy stories can show courage in adversity so the reader’s can look up at it, like when that old man stood up for himself and when Nissa ran out to save Seth without any thought on what might happen to her. But they can also be written for the reader’s enjoyment like the over exaggerated areas in the book. For example when Danny told of the time he was brutally attacked by the dog while the police were holding him down and then got charged for something he didn’t do and the teachers wanting all this bullying to occur. Therefore all this evidence proves that not only are books written for enjoyment but are also written to model courage in adversity.