'Jolt' Bernard Beckett

1035 Words5 Pages
Describe the plot and explain how the author created impact. Bernard Beckett captivates the reader’s attention on the very first page in his beautifully written novel ‘Jolt,’ a story about an unusual teenage boy who embarks on a P.E trip which goes horribly wrong. Two interweaving plots drag out the suspense making the book extremely interesting and enjoyable to read. The main theme in the story was ‘Revenge,’ the idea of it reoccurring throughout the book, as the main character, Marko, has an over-developed revenge instinct. Beckett has created some very thought-provoking and complex characters unique to this book, making it unlike any other. There are two plots in ‘Jolt,’ one from the past, Marko’s P.E trip, and one in the present, where we hear from Marko in a mental hospital, through the form of his diary. These plots eventually meet up with each other and become one. “I wasn’t even going to do PE. Mum wasn’t keen” his Mother wanted him to focus on “academic pursuits” this lasted until the P.E teacher convinced him otherwise with his exciting and amazing view of an upcoming trip, “I knew she was more worried about the cost. Not that we had any way of knowing back then what the real cost would be.” Marko was referring to the P.E trip which went dreadfully wrong when an earthquake strikes, which sends Marko and his fellow team members Lisa, Jonathon and Rebecca, into panic. The teenagers depend on their group supervisor, Ms Jenkins, to organise a plan, and this is where the reader first meets ‘The Doctor.’ Marko witnesses the Doctor kill Ms Jenkins, the person who they were depending on, and this is when Marko decides he will kill the Doctor, “It seems so simple, when I write it down on paper. In three days, the doctor will be dead.” In the hospital, where he has been wrongly diagnosed by the Doctor as ‘insane,’ he deciphers ways of which he can murder the
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