Independent Reading Assignment [essay]

Harms Way: Examining Reality Through Fiction


As quoted by, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.” This statement proves true when considering works from the author Stephen White, in particular, to his work, Harms Way. This novel is a demonstration of the human will to survive. As a human, one is considered sane, when one values his/her life, and insane, when one chooses to end that life. It is somewhere in the middle where serial killers lie. For they wish to take life, but not of their own, instead, they value life, and cling to it. It is human, to want to live. It is un-human, to want to suffer another, so as to not have to suffer yourself.

This novel evocates the will to survive as a human, the desire to exist, to postpone death and demise. The main character Alan Gregory is a clinical psychologist that is called onto a murder investigation by friend, Detective Sam Purdy. His job is to create a psychological profile of the perpetrator, to assist an arrest of unnamed suspects. Along with a team of FBI agents in Boulder, Colorado, these two figures, represent the will to expose and expulse the “inhuman” trait of the novel, the murderer. This trait transforms into the conflict of the novel by forcing Man vs. Man conflict. In one case, Man, Alan Gregory, could be versus, Man, the suspect. But, in another way, Man could represent good, versus, Man, that could represent evil. Within this constantly shifting world of good vs. evil, Gregory starts to doubt his concrete analysis’s; “my job was clear. It just wasn’t easy. How was I going to profile this killer? How would I explain this murderer, one who grew less rather than more impassioned? Because his passion should evolve. How would I explain this killer, one who grew more rather than less controlled? because his control should decay” (White, 129). This states, that although partially, Dr. Gregory is unsure of his outright duties, he knows that it is his obligation to prevent the murderer from gaining such a stronghold over the investigation. This foreshadows the authors intentions to set up Alan in predicaments, where his life may be endangered or on the verge there of.

One of the major literary elements used in this novel was, as previously stated, foreshadowing. The details, affirming the reader, that something bad is going to happen to a character. Like, “As I approached the stage, a door slammed shut somewhere in the building. My ability to exhale was immediately compromised” (White, 407). This small, seemingly inconsistent detail, illustrates the fact that the character may be in some grave danger. In Alan Gregory’s case, this proves true, when someone comes from behind and strikes him over the head with the sound of a “ping”, thud. Symbolism was also used in a wide variety of ways, such as the 2nd murder victim’s feelings about a flash fire that caused pain to him. This fire represented to the victim, a beacon of the past, and of a mistake, hate, and regret. “Pete didn’t talk much about what happened out there” (White, 267). Also based on ones opinion, conflict, in this case, can be symbolic of the will of good, versus the will of evil. These elements cause the plot to transition and branch out into more complicated sub-categories of conflict within conflict to create a theme.

The messages of the book, can be referred to as a theme, or a motif, or genre of book. In this case, the theme of Harms way, is good guy vs. bad guy, set in the genre of murder/mystery. But the motif is different from the two. The motif ties in with Robert Louis Stevenson’s quote, in that it shows clearly, there was wrongdoing, but Alan Gregory, nor Purdy, nor the FBI know where to look for suspects. Stephen White, in these moments, is then “affecting” us, the readers, “…precisely as he wishes”, by confronting this issue, but not giving the reader a clear cut pathway to the solution. This approach allows for the literary elements stated previously, to trick and flow the movement of the plot, in a way White sees fit. Though Stephen White is not the only one shaping the story from a fictional piece of literature, to a conceivably factual part of life. The reader has a part to play in molding this work into reality. It is possible to have serial murders like that of this novel, be it the Manson Family Murders, etc. What gives the book a sense of reality though, is that, the positions these people hold, Alan Gregory, a psychotherapist, and Sam Purdy, a detective, are jobs based is the realms of reality. So, although, the reader knows, and is familiarized by occurrences in this novel, White chooses to blur out the ending with vague foresight from the reader.

This literary novel reflects the very life we all live in today. It brings to it, things that ordinary people can look back and acknowledge what has happened in real life, and what could very well happen in the future. The novel is intended to show this reality, because it has to show the reader that there are people out there in this world who believe that lives other than their own should be sacrificed. And to show, that when serial killings, or murders of any kind occur, there is always going to be a group of people who will try to neutralize situations similar. This work should be commended for its level of realism, and its information parallels to the modern ages of today. Every human has the right to live but, not every human chooses to live the right way.

In this constant state of fear for ones life, humans find a new interest in life. That is to protect at all costs, the quality and worth of a life. But then there are those who take life away from others, as a gesture to avoid taking their own lives, or pleasures. There will always be conflict between Man, that is good, and, Man, that is evil. And as put by Robert Louis Stevenson, “difficulty of literature is not to write, but to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.” Stephen White draws emotions already existent in reality, and bends them to his wishes to take the reader on a good vs. evil tale of self exploration.