Iggy Cossman Miss Wilson AP English Lit. & Comp.

6 October 2013

Part III: Presentation

Text: Amsterdam by Ian McEwan Essence: A persons moral duty may be obstructed by their own personal

responsibilities at the time, causing irremissible actions to take place and a downfall of the person to take place.

Brief Summary of Text: Two old friends, Clive Linley and Vernon

Halliday, both ex-lovers of the infamous Molly Lane, meet together at her funeral, having passed away to an unnamed brain disease, and left to die in a nearvegetative state in the arms of her disliked husband, George. After heading back to their separate lives, both Clive and Vernon begin to fear that they are suffering from the same symptoms that Molly first began to experience before she fell to disease, and as a result, agree to make a pact with one another: should one of them begin to fall into a state like Mollys, the other will agree to travel to Amsterdam, and euthanize them. After this pact, both characters make immoral decisions that the other find irremissible, and begin to plot their revenge against each other. Having to travel to the titular city for the rehearsal of his new millennial piece, Clive invites Vernon with the false intention of an apology, and both end up getting their revenge, by tricking the other into being euthanized. In the end,

George shows up to take the bodies back to the UK, taking pride in his indirect role in ending the lives of his wifes ex-lovers.

Prompt: 1980. A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a

passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, a determination to redress a wrong, or some other emotion or drive may conflict with moral duty. Choose a literary work in which a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with his or her responsibilities. In a well-written essay show clearly the nature of the conflict, its effects upon the character, and its significance to the work.

Thesis which addresses your prompt: In Ian McEwans Amsterdam, the

leading characters Clive and Vernon both make immoral decisions in favor of their job responsibilities, showing morality as a blurred, gray area rather than just black-and-white.

Creative project and explanation: A parody of Vernons Newspaper, The Judge, called The Smudge. It, much like in Ian McEwans style, favors dark humor and follows the immediate events of the protagonists deaths. Included are obituaries, interviews, and other sections typically found in Newspapers.