In this chapter, the author gives readers a general idea of the setting and where the novel took place. According to text, I assumed that the story took place in Europe during the rule of the queens and kings when the social statuses were clear and literate. This links to a preview activity that we did in class where a group was to rank the top ten people who had the most fortune, power and higher social statuses. It is clear that Sir. Philip has a higher social status than Peter and in the olden times, that meant he had more power. Peter Brownriggs, the protagonist and narrator of the story was introduced and eventually lead to the conflict when Sir Philip Morton took over the village that he lived in.
The story began when Sir Philip took advantage of the town and built stone walls around the meadow which caused frustration among the peoples who lived in the village. This scene ties in with one of the activities that we did as a class when a students' right was taken away from us with no apparent reason. In the story, Sir Philip took over the villager's land and used it for his own benefit without consulting the people first and getting their permission. They started to argue but Sir Philip denied and told them to go to court if necessary. He knew that the villagers couldn't afford going to court, therefore, this clearly stated that Sir Philip just unconditionally took a right away from the villagers. Peter was chosen to guard and look out for Sir Philip when the villagers decided to tare down the stone walls that Sir Philip built. There, I had the feeling that something bad might happen, and before you know it, Sir Philip came gal lapsing on his horse. Peter quickly warned the villagers to keep them out of danger, however, he caused himself more trouble by throwing a rock at Sir Philip. Unfortunately, the rock missed and one of the knights caught Peter and took out his pistol and aimed it at Peter. Luckily, the bullet shot through his hat instead of himself.
Chapter #2- Escape
In this chapter, the reader experiences a daily life in Peter's perspective where he goes to school and also gives me an idea of what it was like to live during the medieval time. The chapter ended with Sir Philip trying to capture Peter while he's trying to escape from him and had to leave his town.
In my opinion, I think Peter is a slow and unfocused person. Firstly,when he was guarding, he didn't spot Sir Philip as quickly as he should because he wasn't paying much attention whether there were any people passing by the road. Also, in chapter 2, He was thinking about his hat and how proud he was with the bullet hole and that since it has his name on it, the students will believe that the hat was actually his. However, didn't he think that after the incident that happened the day before, Sir. Philip would find it and try to track him down? In result, Peter had no choice but to escape from Sir. Philip and travel a great distance by himself.
Mandy,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely accurate analysis by a superb literary scholar!
I completely support your idea that Peter was too rash and arrogant, even thinking of risking his and his friends and family's safety and well-being in exchange for praise and and admiration from his peers at school.
And I agree that Peter should have been more attentive in his duty of watching out for any danger.The whole problem could have been avoided.
Bottom line, good job!