“The collector”

a) Who is is the narrator ?

The peculiarity of the narrative in the novel is that the main character, Frederick Clegg, on
whose behalf the story goes in the first part, should be the protagonist and be an expression of
the thoughts and ideas of the author, while he becomes a maniac as the action unfolds. Clegg is
an "unreliable narrator", since we cannot believe the maniac, on the one hand, but, on the
other, we have no choice, since the story of what is happening is coming from his face. The
"unreliable narrator" technique, in its various variations, is characteristic of the postmodern
text and is a feature of the novels of John Fowles.

The personality of Ferdinand Clegg is revealed to the reader through the speech portrait of the
hero, created by himself - Clegg himself is a narrator, that is, he talks about himself, quoting
himself. On the other hand, in the second part we learn about the collector from Miranda's
diary, and this information about the main character complements the structure of his speech
portrait and image as a whole.

b) The meaning of the title.

Only the title of the novel "The Collector" immediately brings to mind. It was translated into
Ukrainian as "Колекціонер", emphasizing the analogy between Miranda and the butterfly,
Clegg and the collector. And the heroine of the novel herself spoke about it. But the fact is that
in the artistic world of Fowles, this is a clear sign of playing with the reader, testing him to
repeat a ready-made decision.

The English word "collector" becomes a metaphor thanks to its Latin base: "colligere" in
translation means " зв’язувати", " з’єднувати", finally, because the word is similar to the Latin
"lector" – reader (читач). But by no means "collect (збирати)". The title, therefore, in my
opinion, is a metaphor not so much of one Clegg's unconscious drive towards violence and
destruction, but of a more general situation.

c) features of postmodernism: blending of generes, “death” of the author, game, simulacrum,

Comparing the features of postmodernism in Fowles' novel "The Collector" with the features of
this artistic method, it is possible to come to the following conclusions:

 Quotation is used by the author as a tool to express the worldview of two contrasting
images; especially for expressing Miranda's thoughts and emotions. (“death” of the
author)
 Contextuality and intertextuality are used extremely widely. Allusions to the texts of
Shakespeare and Jane Austen are used, as well as modern authors - Salinger, Sillitou.
 The multilevel nature of the text is expressed very vividly: the text captures the
attention of readers of different intellectual and cultural levels; is reflected at the level
 of the symbolism of the images, the stylistic language of the characters, as well as at the
level of the composition of the plot structure.
 The rejection of logocentricity is expressed in the form of presenting the same situation
from opposite points of view (plurality of interpretations), expressed in first-person
narratives, which allows the characters to express their "personal truth", as well as in a
hyperbolized illustration of the situation of arbitrariness, which demonstrates the power
of money, which despises the main human rights, including the right to freedom. The
impression of virtuality, in my opinion, is created especially in the part of Miranda,
where she gradually goes more and more into the world of inner experiences and
delusions, which is no less real than the basement.
 It is possible to come to the conclusion that the technique of "author's mask" is used in
the novel (“death” of the author, game). The author eliminates the personal beginning
from the text due to the fact that the main character in the text is not the author, but
the reader, since it is he who endows the text with one or another meaning.
 The author builds the novel "The Collector" as a novel-game, directs the recipient's
attention to the multiplicity of interpretations. It is not for nothing that his characters -
both Caliban and Miranda - perceive their own lives as a game.
 The reception of bitter irony is present, in particular, in the case of an allusive symbolic
reinterpretation of the names Ferdinand - Caliban.
 A special reality of the author's creative world is modeled, where any behavior is a
"language game". Many images contained in the metatext do not have denotations.
Signs without denotations turn out to be "simulacrum" that are neither true nor false: a
butterfly (Miranda), a collector (Clegg in relation to girls), a cellar (the room where Clegg
places Miranda).
 The principle of text-centricity, according to which everything that happens is perceived
as a text, as a kind of coded message that can be read, is preserved (blending of
generes). The events of the novel are retold in the form of diary entries - confessions
from the first person. From this follows the form that the story takes and which at the
same time creates and complements the images of the characters. Techniques of
stylistic manipulation are masterfully used by Fowles to create a bulging image of Clegg,
as well as to convey the storm of emotions of Miranda, which gradually comes to
nothing under the yoke of calibranism.

So, as a result of the analysis of the work, I am convinced that the novel "The Collector" has all
the features that distinguish the literature of postmodernism, and the principles of this artistic
method were skillfully used by the author to create a work that has impressed millions of
readers with its originality and integrity for more than 40 years years.

d) comment on the conflicts :

Glegg vs Miranda (external)

The names of the main characters play a significant role in the novel. Being literary allusions,
they carry a symbolic load. Fowles names his characters from Shakespeare's "The Tempest",
where Caliban is an ugly savage, and Miranda is the only daughter of the owner of the island,
Prospero, the embodiment of purity and beauty.

Yes, Clegg-Caliban is identified with the dark, evil part of humanity. He is proud of the fact that
he is "chivalrous" towards Miranda, and it is better to call himself Ferdinand, as if covering
himself with a noble name, which does not prevent Miranda from recognizing his Caliban
nature.

A complete identification with Clegg's empty and dark inner world can be served by the
atmosphere of semi-darkness that reigns in his house and the poverty of the environment.

Based on the characteristics of the character, it is possible to talk about the limitations of
Ferdinand's nature. His language is not figurative, ordinary, it reveals his inner limitations and
ignorance. Although his image begins to be read in a different way and acquires new colors and
shades, if considered together with the heroine of the novel.

Miranda is the complete opposite of Clegg, she is a creative individual, her image is complex
and multifaceted. Fowles complicates the character of the heroine, shows it in dynamics, which
certainly indicates the internal development of the main character's personality, which we
observe at all levels of the linguistic personality. Even her portrait characteristics allow us to
talk about the beauty of her nature. Appearance reflects her inner state. She is beautiful both
externally and internally.

What can you say about Ferdinand - thin, unattractive, and has rather an appearance that is
more repulsive than pleasant, according to Miranda. But Clegg's ordinariness is manifested
precisely through his language.

The few vs the many (external)

Clegg: many actions (plans to kidnap Miranda; follows her for weeks; makes hourly notes of her
route and actions; buys a house with a cellar that he converts into a living room and a truck
with a large trunk to hunt down prey; cuts in new doors and builds secret corridors; he buys a
crematorium to burn dirty clothes and destroy any evidence; gives up his gardener and fences
himself off from the local village community). But at the same time, there is few intelligence
(His language is not figurative, ordinary, it reveals his inner limitations and ignorance).

Miranda: the few of friends, college, art, relationships, and most of all, freedom. But many of
intelligence and talent (she is a creative individual, her image is complex and multifaceted.
Fowles complicates the character of the heroine, shows it in dynamics, which certainly indicates
the internal development of the main character's personality, which we observe at all levels of
the linguistic personality. Appearance reflects her inner state. She is beautiful both externally
and internally.).

Good vs evil (external)

Yes, Clegg-Caliban is identified with the dark, evil part of humanity. And Miranda is the
complete opposite of Clegg, she is a creative individual, her image is complex and multifaceted,
but at the same time she identifies with the bright and good part of humanity.

The socio-psychological confrontation between the two types of worldview ends with the
formal victory of evil.

Within Clegg’s and Miranda’s minds (internal)

Due to the lack of vocabulary, Clegg uses the same words and phrases to describe both
negative and positive moments and emotions without changing them. Clegg is not capable of
linguistic creativity, since his level of education and the poverty of the thesaurus do not allow
him to engage in speech creation. Clegg also refers to works that are known to everyone and
compares himself with the heroes of these works, appropriating to himself the qualities that
they possess. At the same time, it is obvious that he does not understand the essence of the
works he is talking about, he sees only their superficial meaning. It is also possible to mention
the collector's inadequately inflated self-esteem, or rather the lack of ability to do so.

But Miranda is able to feel, experience, dream, defend her own view of the world. Even in
prison, Miranda lives in her rich world of memories, feelings, and dreams.

The heroine's language is complex and rich. Fowles gives Miranda the ability to see and subtly
feel the uniqueness of nature's beauty. She strongly feels the need to live in harmony with her.
Miranda also evaluates herself by comparing herself to nature, personifying it, which indicates
the heroine's ability to reflect. Even while in prison, the heroine retains the ability to think and
sympathize. Depicting the external and internal beauty of Miranda, Fowles gives her the
opportunity to think not only about the problems of an artist's creative search, about the
important role of art, painting, music, and literature in the development of a person's spiritual
potential, but also separates her from the miserable grayness of Clegg-Caliban's inner world.

Clegg perceives the world as a hostile environment, this feeling has been formed in him since
childhood, by the end of the novel he takes on menacingly paranoid forms. For Miranda, the
world is a riot of shades and colors, a whirlpool of emotions and experiences, a pulsating thread
stretched between him and all other people. And although she also consciously renounces her
own environment, this renunciation has a different character - it is another step in self-
knowledge. This is a stage of a new perception of one's own Self, one's loved ones and
relatives.

e) allusions to William Shakespeare’s “the Tempest” and to Jane Austin‘s “Emma”

By colliding different cultural epochs, different ways of worldview in his works, sometimes even
in the context of a veiled social class confrontation, as we see in the novel "The Collector", the
author reveals the complexity, inconsistency of the character of his characters, which means
that he reveals the versatility and diversity of personality, a combination of high and low, light
and dark in the human soul. Considering Homer's Odyssey and W. Shakespeare's The Tempest
to be the peak of the aesthetic achievements of human thought, Fowles revives quotes,
resurrects heroes from the past, literary characters. So, creating the novel "The Collector", the
author, as if with a certain intent, transfers the images of Shakespeare's heroes to the pages of
his work, first reducing the number of heroes, as well as changing and endowing them with

new qualities. The appeal of J. Fowles to Shakespeare's play "The Tempest" is due to both its
high artistic value and proximity to the worldview positions of the author himself. The idyllic,
somewhere fabulous plot of the play "The Tempest" tells about retribution, honor and justice,
about love and the renewal of former friendship. Artistic processing of the Shakespearean story
allows the author to turn again to the eternal questions that concern mankind.

Also, Miranda claims that for her the origin of a person, his welfare and social position do not
play a decisive role; based on all this, as well as a direct allusion in the text of her diary, she is
associated with Emma from Jane Austіn's novel "Emma".

f) Who is is the collector (-entomologist) ? Who is the butterfly ?

It was no accident that Fowles made Clegg a collector of butterflies: among the ancient Greeks,
the same word meant "butterfly" and "suffocate". Collectors do not like live butterflies.
Therefore, Clegg cannot bring the ideal created by him into line with reality: Miranda is alive,
her world is the world of movement, search, creativity. She is a type of "soul" - inspired beauty.
Clegg's world is the world of the underground, a closed space in which a creative personality
cannot live. When devising the plan to kidnap Miranda, Clegg borrowed his technology from
the book "Secrets of the Gestapo".

The life of young Frederick Clegg was no different from the lives of hundreds of other people. A
completely ordinary young man who works at the Town Hall and collects butterflies. When he
saw Miranda, a painting student, his passion for collecting went to a new level: from butterflies
to women. One day, he wins a huge amount of money at the races and decides to spend it on
the dream of his life - the girl Miranda, whose life he has been following for a long time. And
Miranda is just another butterfly in Clegg's collection, his rarest and most valuable specimen.