Sample Past the Shallows Essay PDF

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Writers prose fiction to create worlds that significantly impact their characters. How does the author of your prescribed text craft setting and characters to explore complex human experiences? The relationship between family and the natural environment can contribute to the development of individual and collective human experiences and can affect a person’s state of mind. Favel Parrett’s novel Past the Shallows demonstrates how a family’s strong connection with nature can influences their life experiences and shape them as individuals. Our lives are defined by what we see around us, weather we choose to accept it or deal with it. The natural environment can almost be portrayed as its own character throughout Past the Shallows. Favel Parrett used this technique to show how the world can be a reflection of our inner state of mind, our past and important truths about life. Ultimately she shows how people are so deeply intertwined with the natural environment. Miles passing a comment about the tree that killed his mother is an example of nature revealing the truth about his mothers death. “It still has a scar, a line where the bark never grew back. And it was amazing to see it had survived at all. They had hit it so hard”. The scar acts as a symbol of how the past can never truly be forgotten. There will always be a reminder of it especially when we least expect it. Furthermore, the idea of nature reflecting human experiences is further explored in the beginning of the novel. Harry’s adventure on the beach, seeking the shark egg causes him to realise “that time ran on forever and that he to would soon die”. This is a chilling realisation for such a young boy and suggests that it was only possible due to the richness of the environment he lives and stands on. Humanity’s connection with the natural environment shows how complex the complex experiences the family has endured over the past due to the environment they are surrounded by and this can play a role in showing how the characters in the novel have been formed. Family relationships can be strongly influenced through the environment to gain insight into the different individual and collective human experiences. Throughout Past the Shallows the dominate role of the ocean is used to show the family pain, suffering and dysfunction. The ocean is used as a metaphor for not only the family but also for their father showing the duality of his nature. The father depends on the ocean for his lively hood but he is not gentle with the sea. Instead, his arrogant abusive attitude puts him in a constant conflict with the see and he ends up paying the price. Favel Parrett also uses the character of Jeff the father fishing partner to show how some people lack care for the natural environment, as seen when he kills the baby shark “Jeff hacking into the full womb and three pups spilled out… and stabbed it through the head, grinning as its body came up on the long knife”. The gruesome imagery used is confronting for the reader and exemplifies Jeff’s irrational emotionally charged behaviour and tendency for violence. In contrast, Miles caught the baby shark in his arms. “It would have survived if Jeff had just let it go. Let it slide off the back of the boat. It would have been strong, ready to hunt and fight”. In spite of the bleak realities of nature, Miles still has sympathy for the shark and its babies, likely due to the losses he incurred over time. Miles reflection that the baby shark was strong and would have survived without Jeffs cruel intervention suggests that underneath the jaded exterior he sometimes displays, Miles grief has actually made him exceptionally sensitive towards the preventable death of any living creature. This scene is also used to foreshadow the death of Miles younger brother Harry, who is killed by their cruel father in the end. Nature is used throughout the novel to show the family’s relationship with one another. It shows the pain, suffering and dysfunction each member faces and how the experiences they have incurred shape them as individuals.

Favel Parrett utilised the natural environment throughout the novel to show the connection the family has with the environment and how this has influenced and shown the different individual and collective human experiences each family faced. The novel shows how the impact of this connection can be extremely detrimental to some characters....