Comparison Of 3 Texts

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Comparative essay The three texts I studied as part of my comparative course were ‘How Many Miles to Babylon?' (Babylon) by Jennifer Johnson, ‘The Lonesome West’ (TLW) by Martin McDonagh and ‘Inside I’m Dancing (IID), a film directed by Damien O’Donnell. The general vision and viewpoint of the three texts was conveyed through the manner in which the they open, develop and conclude, through the main characters and relationships, through the way the world of the text is conveyed and finally through the use of language and imagery. The way a text opens and the setting it establishes usually gives the reader a good idea of the general vision and viewpoint of the text. In the three texts, the openings are drastically different. At the beginning of ‘Babylon’ we see the Alec is awaiting his execution, but we aren’t told why at this point. Similarly, in ‘TLW’ the opening is related to death. The two main characters, Coleman and Valene have just returned from their father’s funeral and much like ‘Babylon’ we are not immediately told how he died. However, in ‘IID’ the opening of the text is in no way associated with the other two. The opening scene is of a floor waxing machine that slowly leads the camera into a large room. In the room we see that all the residents are in some way disabled, this is also where we meet one of the central characters Michael. The relationships between the characters are paramount to how the general vision and viewpoint of a text is interpreted by the reader. In my opinion, the plot in ‘Babylon’ is driven by the relationships between the characters. For example the relationship between Alec and his mother Alicia, father and Jerry are all different. Alec’s relationship with Alicia is one of bitterness. They can’t stand being around each other, talking to each other and Alicia does not allow Alec to have friends she does not approve of. One such
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