P PENGUIN READERS
Amistad About the authors The screenplay of Amistad was written by David Franzoni, whose previous screenplays included Citizen Cohn and Jumpin’ Jack Flash, and Steven Zaillian, who wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning film Schindler’s List. Joyce Annette Barnes wrote the novelisation of the screenplay.
Summary Based on real events, Amistad is a fascinating account of the trial of thirty-nine Africans accused of being slaves and murderers in America in 1839. The book is a novel based on the 1997 film, Amistad, which was written by David Franzoni and Steven Zaillian, and directed by Steven Spielberg.
Chapter 1 It is 1839 and a large number of Africans have been kidnapped from their home in Sierra Leone in West Africa. They are bound in chains and transported by ship – under terrible conditions – to Cuba, where they are sold as slaves to two Spaniards named Ruiz and Montes. The Spaniards put the Africans on another ship, the
Amistad, which sets sail for America, where the Africans are going to be put to work in the sugar plantations.
Chapter 2 However, before the plan can be carried out, the captives, led by Cinque, break loose from their chains and kill the Spanish sailors. They don‟t kill Ruiz and Montes. Instead, they order them to sail the ship back to Africa. The Spaniards don‟t listen to them, though – they secretly continue the journey to America until an American ship attacks and defeats the Amistad in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Africans become prisoners again.
Chapters 3–15 The Africans stand trial for murder – accused of killing the Spanish sailors. Different people insist that the Africans belong to them: the Queen of Spain, Ruiz and Montes and the owners of the American ship that defeated the Amistad. However, one young property lawyer thinks differently from everyone else. He believes that since the Africans were kidnapped, and not born into slavery, it is the kidnappers who are the criminals. Men, he says, must kill for their freedom, if necessary, and therefore the Africans are innocent. Background and themes Slavery: Amistad is an emotionally powerful story about the controversial subject of slavery – the ownership of one human being by another. Nowadays, most people are horrified to think that slavery ever existed. However, slavery wasn‟t actually abolished in the southern United States until 1865 – less than a hundred and fifty years ago. In fact, there are a few places in the world where slavery exists illegally even today. The history of slavery: Slavery has spread throughout the world since prehistoric times. The civilizations of Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome supported slavery. It continued through the Middle Ages, and the modern-era slave trade – the transporting of Africans to North and South America – began in the sixteenth century under the Portuguese and the Spanish. Other European countries, such as Britain and France, became involved in the slave trade, and it is estimated that between 1650 and 1850, twelve and a half million slaves were forcefully removed from Africa. The abolition of slavery in Britain: In the second half of the eighteenth century, an anti-slavery movement started,
and Britain finally abolished the slave trade in 1807. The country went on to abolish slavery itself in 1833, and it even sent anti-slavery ships to guard the coast of Africa. The ships attacked vessels carrying slaves to the Americas. The abolition of slavery in North America: However, in America, the abolition movement moved much more slowly. The northern states abolished slavery in the period from 1787 to 1804, but since the economy of the southern states was based partly on the use of slaves as agricultural workers, people living in the south resisted the abolition movement. However, as time passed, slavery became an issue that could no longer be ignored, resulting in the American Civil War (1861 to 1865) between the North and the South. The North won the war, and slavery was finally abolished from the newly united country. Freedom: Much of the action in Amistad takes place in a courtroom, and the story represents courtroom drama at its most exciting. The trial focuses on an extremely important issue – the right of a human being to take ownership over his own freedom. The question behind the trial is simple and yet extremely complex – are the Africans murderers? Or are they simply men who were forced to fight for their freedom? It is a difficult question – and its answer splits the country in half. The right to be free: Cinque‟s narration of his capture and eventual transportation across the Atlantic Ocean is shocking, brutal and extremely compelling. During the trial, Cinque and the rest of the Africans are nearly awarded their freedom by the judge on two separate occasions, but higher authorities step in both times and replace the judge with someone whom they believe will decide against the Africans. The young property lawyer‟s arguments in favour of the Africans are developed with great clarity until finally the point is indisputable – that it is a man‟s right to be free. The racial debate: The film Amistad was released to critical acclaim in 1997. It starred leading American and British actors, and a West African fashion model named Djimon Hounsou played the role of Cinque brilliantly. The film attracted tremendous publicity because of its controversial subject matter, reigniting a heated debate – especially in the United States – regarding the position of black Americans within their country‟s modern society.
PENGUIN READERS
Becoming Jane Sarah Williams and Kevin Wood
Summary The story, set in 1795, is about young Jane Austen, the world-renowned English novelist, before she became well-known. It is loosely based on the few known facts about her life. She wishes to become a writer and dreams of marrying for love. Chapter 1: Jane Austen is twenty years old. She is living with her family at a rectory in a small country village in Hampshire. Mr Austen is a rector. Jane‟s older sister Cassandra‟s future husband Robert Fowle and Jane‟s aristocratic widowed cousin Eliza de Feuillide are there as well. One Sunday, they visit their rich aristocratic neighbour Lady Gresham after church. Mrs Austen thinks Mr Wisley, Lady Gresham‟s favourite nephew, is a prospective match for Jane. Chapter 2: Tom Lefroy is boxing at a men‟s club in London. He meets up with Jane‟s brother Henry Austen and his friend John Warren there. Both Henry and John are heading to Hampshire as Mr Austen is preparing positions in the Church for them. Tom is a law student in London and he depends financially on his uncle Judge Langlois. Tom has a bad reputation, so Judge Langlois is sending him to his other relatives in Hampshire for the summer. Chapter 3: At the rectory, the girls are getting ready for the evening. Guests are invited as Henry is coming home. Cassandra is worried that Robert may forget about her because soon he will be going to West Indies. Mr Wisley pays a visit, and attempts to propose marriage to Jane. Jane avoids the topic by running to meet Henry as his coach arrives. Chapter 4: In the evening, family, friends and neighbours get together. The Lefroys, the Austens‟ neighbours, are also there, but Tom arrives late. Mr Austen makes a speech about Henry‟s return and Cassandra‟s future visit to her brother Edward and his wife to help them when their child is born. Jane reads one of her stories of two young people who had to wait for their marriage. Obviously it‟s about Cassandra and Robert. Tom thinks the story is childish, and this upsets Jane. Chapter 5: Tom sees Jane in the forest. Jane is still offended about Tom‟s comment on her writing. Tom suggests she read his favourite book, The History of Tom Jones. Tom thinks Jane is an interesting young woman. Chapter 6: At Basingstoke Dance, Mr Wisley steps on Jane‟s foot. Jane dances with Tom three times rather than only twice. Henry warns Jane about Tom‟s reputation. Chapter 7: Jane meets up with Tom at a country fair. Mrs Austen doesn‟t think Tom is a suitable husband for he will not be able to provide well for the family. Chapter 8: Mr Wisley finally has a chance to propose to Jane, but she tells him she can‟t marry without love. Jane‟s parents think love is desirable but money is indispensable. Lady Gresham also insists that Jane should accept the proposal at once. Jane learns that Tom‟s feelings for her are also very strong. Chapter 9: Eliza conspires to visit Tom‟s uncle in London: The Comtesse de Feuillide and „her cousins‟ are visiting Jane‟s brother, Edward, and planning to stop in London on the way there. In this way, Tom can introduce Jane to Judge Langlois in order to get his blessing for their marriage. In London Jane starts to write a story, which later becomes Pride and Prejudice. Chapter 10: The Judge receives a letter saying that Jane is from a poor family. He doesn‟t want them to marry. Jane insists that they can still marry, but Tom says he has a family to think about. Heartbroken, Jane leaves London. Chapter 11: Jane comes back home with her sister Cassandra. During the dinner at Lady Gresham‟s, a messenger arrives with the news of Robert‟s death. Jane learns that Tom is now engaged to a rich young lady from Ireland. Both girls are devastated. Jane accepts Mr Wisley‟s proposal.
Chapter 12: Tom comes to offer Jane an explanation. He asks her to elope with him, and she agrees. Chapter 13: After leaving Hampshire with Tom, Jane happens to learn that Tom‟s parents, brothers and sisters depend on Tom‟s allowance to survive. Jane ends her affair with him and comes back home. Chapter 14: Jane finds out that John Warren is the one who wrote a letter to the Judge. Mr Wisley withdraws his marriage proposal amicably. Jane‟s family is very supportive. She continues writing Pride and Prejudice. Chapter 15: Twenty years later, Jane encounters Tom at a social function. Henry invites him to a dinner party at Henry and Eliza‟s house (they are married). Tom is late as ever. Tom introduces his oldest daughter, whose name is Jane. She asks Jane to read at the party, and Jane reads the story of Pride and Prejudice.
Background and themes Becoming Jane is a story from a film of the same name. The film was directed by Julian Jarrold and starred Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen and James McAvoy as Tom Lefroy. Although some of the things aren‟t historically correct, each character is a person who actually existed. Jane Austen: She is a much-loved English novelist. Born in 1775 in the Hampshire countryside, she was the seventh child in a family of eight. Her father was a rector. Austen started writing as a young teenager. She fell in love with a young man (it is believed that this man is Tom Lefroy), but as both of them were penniless, they weren‟t allowed to marry. There is, however, no evidence that they attempted to elope or that they encountered each other years later. At the end of this story Jane gives a public reading, but this must have been very rare as she was published anonymously until her death. Austen wrote six major novels. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816) were published during her lifetime, and Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published in 1818 after her death. Tom Lefroy: Thomas Langlois Lefroy was an Irish politician and judge. He was the eldest son of the Lefroy family. His great uncle Benjamin Langlois was his family‟s benefactor. He became the Chief Justice of Ireland in 1852. Scholars believe that he was the one Jane Austen fell in love with when she was young. Pride and Prejudice: It is said that Tom Lefroy is the inspiration for Mr Darcy in one of Austen‟s most beloved novels Pride and Prejudice. It‟s a story about a young woman called Elizabeth Bennet, who learns to love Mr Darcy although her first impressions of Mr Darcy were false. Pride and Prejudice is available in Penguin Readers. Marriage with or without love: Young women in Jane Austen‟s era were searching for a wealthy husband of good birth to secure their future social standing. Marrying a poor man for love was unthinkable then. In this story
P PENGUIN READERS
Billy Elliot
About the Author Billy Elliot is originally a British film (2000) directed by Stephen Daldry. The screenplay was written by Lee Hall and then adapted as a novel by Melvin Burgess, who is a popular and prolific writer of young adult fiction. Some of his works are Junk, Bloodtide and Doing It.
Summary Billy Elliot is the son of a poor coal miner in Northern England who is very different from all the other boys: he prefers dancing to boxing and he wants to become a ballet dancer! Chapter 1: Billy, whose mother has died, stays at home taking care of his grandma, Nan, while his father and brother are on strike on the picket line fighting for the coal mines not to be closed.
Chapter 8: Tony attacks a policeman‟s horse and ends up in jail. Jackie and Billy go to court to fetch him and Billy misses his audition. Mrs Wilkinson gets furious and tells the Elliots what has happened. Tony can‟t believe that his brother wants to be a ballet dancer.
Chapter 9: Michael, in a dancing skirt, and Billy, in his ballet shoes, stand in the boxing ring. While Billy is showing his friend some ballet moves, his father enters the hall and sees them. Billy jumps, spins and dances for Chapter 2: Billy‟s father, Jackie, worries about his country his father, who leaves the hall upset but very surprised and about the future and particularly about his son, Billy, with what he has seen. because he is different from other boys. When Jackie sees Billy dancing round the boxing ring instead of fighting, he Chapter 10: Jackie wants to help Billy audition in London and he knows that he needs a lot of money for gets very angry. that. He sells Billy‟s mother‟s ring and decides to go Chapter 3: After taking his boxing lessons, Billy sees the back to work in the mines although he will become a girls in Mrs Wilkinson‟s class across the hall. As he watches scab. them, he starts making the same ballet moves and he soon Chapter 11: Tony is shocked to see his father inside ends up in the ballet class learning how to spin and even the bus entering the mines. He tries to stop him but wearing ballet shoes himself. Jackie tells him in tears that he is doing it for Billy‟s Chapter 4: Jackie worries about his two sons. Tony is future. Tony persuades his father not to work in the always angry and acting crazy trying to start a fight with mines and they both ask George, Billy‟s former boxing the scabs, since they want to break the strike. Billy spins teacher, for help. They soon organise a raffle to raise round in circles saying he is practising a boxing move but money for Billy‟s audition. he looks like a ballet dancer. Jackie learns Billy has not Chapter 12: Jackie and Billy go to London. Billy is taken his boxing classes for months and has kept the very nervous and feels he doesn‟t belong there. When he money. finishes the audition, he is sad and hits a boy. The Chapter 5: Jackie sees Billy taking ballet lessons and gets teachers call Billy and Jackie into the audition room. furious. They both argue and Billy runs away to Mrs They tell Billy off because of what he has done and they Wilkinson‟s house. She tells Billy that he should audition also ask him some questions. for the Royal Ballet School and that she will teach him. Chapter 13: All the family is nervous after the audition Chapter 6: Billy visits his friend, Michael, who is wearing and, when the letter from the Royal Ballet School finally his sister‟s clothes and lipstick. Billy tells Michael that he arrives, they are all gladly surprised to learn that Billy wants to be a ballet dancer in London. They both realise has got into the school. However, there is no party that they are different from the other boys of their age in because the strike ends on that day and the workers have their town. to go back to work because the bosses have won. Chapter 7: Billy starts practising for a ballet audition and Chapter 14: Billy leaves for London and says gets very nervous as it gets closer. Jackie and Tony have a goodbye to Mrs Wilkinson, his friends, neighbours fight and Tony runs away. One night Billy sees his dead and especially his mother. mother, Sarah, and feels that she wants him to dance at the Chapter 15: Time goes by and Jackie and Tony go to audition. London to see Billy on his first night as the main dancer
in the Royal Ballet Company. Billy dances wonderfully and they are all proud of him.
Background and themes Billy Elliot is set against the background of the 1984/5 Coal Miners‟ Strike in Northern England during Margaret Thatcher‟s administration, a defining moment in the economic and social history of the United Kingdom. The story shows how the son of one of these miners overcomes social prejudice to make his dream of being a ballet dancer come true. Some of the main themes of the film and the book are: Coming of age and self-discovery: Billy Elliot explores the growth and change of a pre-adolescent boy and his own discovery and acceptance of the fact that he is different from other boys of the same age. Fulfilling one’s dreams: Billy‟s initiation into adolescence faces him with the challenge of standing up for his beliefs and dreams regardless of his social and economic background and the expectations of society. The father-son relationship: Two generations clash due to their conflicting views of life, gender roles and the future. “Lads do football, boxing, or wrestling – not friggin‟ ballet!” complains Jackie when he learns that his son wants to be a ballet dancer. However, as Billy finds the courage to rebel and shows his talent to Jackie, the father overcomes his prejudices and decides to support him at any cost. Gender and class issues: Billy Elliot presents class stereotypes exploring diverse socio-political realities. The Elliots represent the hardships of working-class miners during the mid-eighties in Northern England; the Wilkinsons reflect how the middle class is practically unaffected by such political developments in spite of being the victims of unemployment as well, and posh Londoners at the Royal Ballet School show how the upper class remains indifferent to what is happening at the time. In addition, Billy Elliot questions gender stereotypes. Billy must struggle against society and his own family, since it is generally believed that ballet is either for girls or for gay boys. Both his father and brother are shocked when they find out that Billy prefers ballet to boxing and that his best friend, Michael, is probably gay. But Billy never gives up and succeeds in challenging all stereotypes and getting support not only from his family but also from his community.
ENGUIN READERS
Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen
About the author Jane Austen, one of England‟s greatest novelists, was born in 1775 in the Hampshire countryside; she had six brothers and sisters. Her father, George Austen, was a clergyman; the family was middle class and comfortably off. Austen started writing as a young teenager. Even at that age her works were incisive and elegantly expressed.
P a young woman‟s All Jane Austen‟s novels are about progress towards marriage, and Sense and Sensibility is no exception. The book tells the story of two pretty, well-bred sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Their father dies, leaving them with little money, and the family has to move to a smaller house in a different part of the country. Elinor and Marianne are very different in temperament. The elder sister, Elinor, is sensible and self-controlled. Marianne, emotional and impulsive, is much more romantic. Marianne falls in love with Willoughby, a good-looking and exciting young man, and Elinor falls in love with the ordinary but pleasant Edward Ferrars, her sisterin-law‟s brother. However, these romances run far from smoothly, and both girls experience disappointment in love. All ends well, of course, but with the sting in the tail that readers have learned to expect from Jane Austen.
Background and themes
Jane Austen‟s works are satirical comedies about the middle and upper-middle classes. The plots are variations on a standard theme: a young woman‟s courtship and eventual marriage. By the end of every one of Austen‟s novel the heroine has found a husband. The world Austen describes is not a large one; she describes small social groups in provincial environments. In one letter Austen compared herself to a painter of miniatures: „The little bit of Ivory on which I work with so fine a brush … .‟ But within this narrow focus Austen explores universal themes: money and its effect on the human psyche; romance and its illusions and the necessary progression towards more realistic relationships, as the courting couples discover each Austen wrote six major novels: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) other‟s true natures. For a young woman of this period, marriage was the surest route to independence and and Emma (1816) were published during her lifetime; Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published in 1818 freedom. Marriage to a wealthy man of good birth was the most desirable position for a woman. Unmarried after her death. The books were popular. Highly placed women living in their parents‟ house (as Jane Austen public figures such as the Prince Regent (the heir to the throne) admired her novels greatly. The Prince kept a set of was) were considered to be second-class citizens. her novels in each of his homes. Austen was a very careful writer and revised her As many geniuses did, Jane Austen died relatively young of novels many times. She writes clearly and incisively, with great illness in 1817 at the age of forty-one. Jane Austen‟s family was lively and affectionate. Like most country people of that time, the family lived a fairly restricted social life, since travel was difficult. Austen received several proposals of marriage. However, she never married, and lived an uneventful life, happy to remain in the family home. We know that she wrote her novels at her desk in the drawing room, with her family around her. She was an attractive, lively and witty young woman, much loved and respected by family and friends. The whole family recognized her genius. Her brother wrote: „In person she was very attractive; her figure was rather tall and slender … She was a clear brunette with a rich colour.‟
Summary
wit. Few writers combine this, as she does, with needle-sharp observation of human behaviour. The stories flow and are easy to read; she needs only a few words to bring the characters to life. Her dialogue is unequalled.
Jane Austen is one of the literary giants of the nineteenth century. Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, was Austen‟s first novel and is an acknowledged masterpiece. Like all her novels, its subject matter is romantic; it is written with a sharp wit and keenly observant eye. In 1995 Sense and Sensibility is, above all, a study of it was made into an Oscar-winning film starring Emma character. As the title suggests, one sister, Elinor, Thompson and Kate Winslet. embodies „sense‟ – self-control, careful thought, and the ability to
accept gracefully the trials of life. The other sister, Marianne, embodies „sensibility‟ – „sensibility‟ here has the old-fashioned meaning of the capacity for feeling, often too much. In Austen‟s novel, „sense‟ triumphs over „sensibility‟. There is symmetry in the story. Both sisters fall in love and both are disappointed in love. But one bears her disappointment bravely while the other is hysterical and self-absorbed. Whom do we admire? Elinor, of course, who, although she is loving and sensitive, is also self-contained. In this respect, Elinor is typical of Austen‟s heroines, and the type of woman Jane Austen most admired. Another theme that weaves through the novel is money, the need for it, and its effect on people. Austen accepts that a certain amount of money is necessary for happiness and the respect of one‟s peers. But she is scathing in her condemnation of greed and meanness. Her portraits of John and Fanny Dashwood and Mrs Ferrars (Fanny‟s mother) are savagely witty; one does not forget them.
Dangerous Game William Harris
About the author
which started out in happiness and ended in murder, and the twelve years of his games with Poldy, which started out as fun but have changed so that William fears for his life. His fears are well founded. By the end of the story, William is dead, leaving behind a manuscript which describes the games and contains his confession of murder. Was William mad – driven to hallucinations by his guilt? Or was he really haunted by the ghost of his murdered wife? The reader can decide.
William Harris is the Chapter 1: William Harris, aged 48, explains to the main character and also the fictional author of the reader that after his wife died twelve years ago, the poltergeist he calls Poldy started visiting him at night. book. William says the ghost is always in his bedroom, but he The author, L.G. can only feel Poldy‟s presence at night, after he unplugs Alexander, was a well-known teacher, writer and author his beside lamp. of New Concept English (1967) and Direct English. William‟s wife Julie was outgoing and liked to be Louis George Alexander was born in London in 1932 and around people, whereas William was the opposite. educated at the University of London. He taught English in Germany and Greece, and was a member of the Council of However, when she became ill and died, William withdrew within himself and within his house, doing Europe Committee on Modern Language Teaching, nothing but writing. He lost most of his friends, except co-authoring materials that later became the basis for a Louis, who is also a writer. He plays chess with Louis variety of communicative language courses and form the once a week. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Chapter 2: During the next few nights, William He started writing English language teaching materials in experiments with pulling out the lamp plug and putting the 1960s and in the 1980s consulted on English teaching it back in. He finds that the first time each night he unplugs the lamp, Poldy makes himself felt. After he programmes for China on behalf of UNESCO. plugs the lamp back in, Poldy is gone for the rest of the Alexander lived with his wife, Julia, in London, where he night. died in 2002. The two play games where Poldy knocks and, shakes the bed or throws items in the room. William laughs at these games.
Summary William Harris is a successful writer of detective stories. He was very happy until his wife, Julie, died twelve years ago. After that, William only had one friend, Louis, who came to his home to play chess once a week. William is, in his own opinion, not a very interesting person, but he has an incredible secret. Every night he plays games with a ghost – a poltergeist – who he has named Poldy. The games continue for twelve years. At first, the games are fun and Poldy is playful. But as time goes on, the games become less enjoyable and in the end they are terrifying. Although unconvinced at first, William eventually admits to himself that Poldy might be the ghost of his dead wife, returning to punish him for her murder. William reveals he murdered Julie after twelve years of marriage because he had become insanely jealous of her friendships. There is a clear parallel between the twelve years of his marriage,
Chapter 3: One evening when William is playing chess with Louis, William is distracted, thinking about his games with Poldy, which he thinks are beginning to become bad. He starts to tell Louis about Poldy, but Poldy warns him not to by knocking from the room above. Louis doesn‟t hear the knocks, but William understands, and pretends Poldy is the name of a strange character in one of his new detective novels. Chapter 4: After five years, things begin to go wrong with the game. At first, Poldy simply didn‟t follow the rules. Then, on the night of a full moon, Poldy started using clothes in the wardrobe to play games. The arm of William‟s coat grabbed the plug from his fingers, yanking the lamp onto the floor. Then, a „person‟ behind the curtain wouldn‟t let William close the drapes. He lay in bed, listening to his heart pound wildly and a cat outside crying like a baby all night.
Chapter 5: William explains to Poldy the difference between a „good game‟ and a „bad game‟ by how he feels – he is never afraid during a „good game‟ and during a „bad game‟ – which has no rules – he feels afraid. William wonders if Poldy wants to punish him, and who Poldy is. Is he Julie? No, William decides. William says he can‟t get away from Poldy by selling his house and moving. He loves his house and the many memories there. Poldy touches William for the first time by running his fingers through his hair. Then he hits William in the face, pushing him and even biting him.
dies. Louis finds Williams body in his wrecked bedroom, with his pillow over his face. On the pillow was an impression of a hand. No one can explain why William died. Louis says that William wasn‟t well in his mind. He doesn‟t think William killed Julie, but he doesn‟t really know whether the things William wrote about happened. The conclusion is up to the reader.
Background and themes Ghost stories: Stories of the unexplained and the supernatural are popular around the world.
Now William feels his bedroom is an evil place. He can‟t write anymore and sleeps and eats very little. Louis worries Crime and punishment: The story turns into a tale of crime and punishment in the mould of the novel of that about him. name by Dostoevsky. Like Rashkolnikov, the main Chapter 6: Poldy starts a „good game‟, shaking the bed narrator of the Russian story, William has committed a and playing „find me‟. William finds Poldy in his bed, so terrible crime and escaped punishment by society. But it‟s his turn. William hides under the bed. Poldy looks the knowledge of the crime lives and festers inside the through his clothing and then knocks the wardrobe onto criminal and eventually drives him mad. Also like the floor. Finally, he finds William under the bed. Poldy Dostoevsky‟s protagonist, William‟s world shrinks after lifts the bed to the ceiling and then drops it – though it the murder to his house and his one friend, and then doesn‟t hit William. Eventually, Poldy throws William further to his bedroom, which the ghost actually locks at onto his bed and laughs an evil laugh. He takes Julie‟s one point to prevent him leaving. He describes the way dress and her photo from the wall and laughs at William. the ghost moves things around his room and breaks Chapter 7: William reveals to the reader – and to himself things as if they really happened, but then in the – that he was jealous of Julie and the attention other men morning, we are told, things are back to normal and gave her during her life. He decided if he killed her, she nothing is broken. Thus we are allowed to believe that would be his for ever. One night, he put his pillow over the whole haunting is imagined, until the final scene her face and held it until she was dead. The doctor thought when Louis finds William dead amongst the wreckage she died of her weak heart, so William didn‟t get caught. of his bedroom, killed, it seems, in the same manner as Chapter 8: William now realises that the poltergeist is his own victim twelve years before. Julie. She was playful and fun for the first few years, but in Jealousy: Love can turn to jealousy for a wide recent years she had become jealous and evil – just like he range of reasons, and can ultimately destroy a did in their marriage. once caring relationship. Julie‟s poltergeist – using the dress and the photo – dances round the room, surrounded by young, laughing men. William gets angry and knocks the dress to the floor. He thinks he has murdered Julie a second time. Then the photo cries and an invisible hand tears up the picture. William becomes scared but finds he is trapped in the bedroom. Finally, he is able to plug the lamp back in and when the light comes on he sees the room is in perfect order. Was it his imagination? He switches off the light and a shadow comes across his face – the shadow of death. Chapter 9: The next day William writes about what has happened since Julie‟s death. He knows the poltergeist is going to kill him, and so wants to leave behind a record of the truth. He hopes Louis will find the story after he dies and will publish it. Chapter 10: Louis finds William‟s story after William