“To have tramped about all day looking for work; to have begged even for a job which would give me enough money to buy a little food; and to have tramped and begged in vain, – that was bad. But, sick at heart, depressed in mind and in body, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, to have been compelled to pocket any little pride I might have left, and solicit, as the penniless, homeless tramp which indeed I was, a night’s lodging in the casual ward, – and to solicit it in vain! – that was worse. Much worse. About as bad as bad could be.”
Marsh, pp.1
Comment:
What’s happening here is an example of the literary tool ‘in medias res’, or ‘in the middle of the thing’. This means that the beginning of the story (or even a chapter/part of the story) starts in the middle of something happening. It’s pretty clear from this very first paragraph that something unfortunate has happened to our main character that has left him poor and homeless, begging on the streets.
This is a popular trope of some classical writings, like Homer’s Odyssey or Iliad, or Dante’s Divine Comedy. While this tool can be used well, I feel that the way it is used here in Beetle just confuses the matter more. Ideally, ‘in medias res’ should drop you into the action, then explain along the way how we as the reader arrived to the action. The feeling of Beetle, however, is that we have been dropped in the middle of a novel halfway in. The reader doesn’t get much context about the perspective we are reading from, besides that he is homeless and he didn’t use to be. Unfortunately, the effect this has is more jarring and confusing rather than engaging as an ‘in medias res’ should be.
Questions
What the heck is even happening?
What were the societal feelings around Arab people and the country Egypt at this time? Could this affect the themes of the novel?
Why did the author choose to use ‘in medias res’ for his story? What does it improve?
