Saturday - Summary
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Publicado: 16 de julio de 2011
Saturday
By Ian McEwan
Saturday is a novel by Ian McEwan, which describes the events of a single day in the life of Henry Perowne, a prosperous middle-aged neurosurgeon, who has planned aseries of enjoyable activities for that day, among them, an eagerly awaited family dinner in the evening. However, Perowne’s day is disrupted by an encounter with a violent man, who will endanger all hiscertitudes about life and future.
The novel is set on Saturday, 15th February 2003, with a major demonstration against the invasion of Iraq as a background. Perowne is on his way to his weeklysquash game, when he finds himself taking part of a street argument with another driver, Baxter. During this confrontation, certain social differences between the two men become evident.
The events areseen through Perowne’s eyes, that is why the reader get to know how the neurosurgeon perceives reality and people in general. To start with, there is the question of property and how personalbelongings seem to be important. Perowne, for example, belongs to the upper-middle class and he can afford having an expensive car, such as a Mercedes S 500. He is proud of it. He considers himself to be"the owner, the master of his own vehicle".
At the same time, Baxter himself drives a BMW, also an expensive car but one that Perowne “associates for no good reason with criminality, drug-dealing”.During this confrontation with Baxter, the brain itself is compared to an expensive car in the way that it "can let you down."
Then, the question of physical appearance is also important toPerowne’s eyes. Being a highly-educated person, he feels he could cope with the situation easily and impose his will, if he weren’t dressed “as a scarecrow, in mangy fleece, his sweater with is row of holes,his paint-stained trousers supported by a knotted cord…”
Lastly, the question of education and to what extent differences in education may determine your possibilities in life. At one point,...
By Ian McEwan
Saturday is a novel by Ian McEwan, which describes the events of a single day in the life of Henry Perowne, a prosperous middle-aged neurosurgeon, who has planned aseries of enjoyable activities for that day, among them, an eagerly awaited family dinner in the evening. However, Perowne’s day is disrupted by an encounter with a violent man, who will endanger all hiscertitudes about life and future.
The novel is set on Saturday, 15th February 2003, with a major demonstration against the invasion of Iraq as a background. Perowne is on his way to his weeklysquash game, when he finds himself taking part of a street argument with another driver, Baxter. During this confrontation, certain social differences between the two men become evident.
The events areseen through Perowne’s eyes, that is why the reader get to know how the neurosurgeon perceives reality and people in general. To start with, there is the question of property and how personalbelongings seem to be important. Perowne, for example, belongs to the upper-middle class and he can afford having an expensive car, such as a Mercedes S 500. He is proud of it. He considers himself to be"the owner, the master of his own vehicle".
At the same time, Baxter himself drives a BMW, also an expensive car but one that Perowne “associates for no good reason with criminality, drug-dealing”.During this confrontation with Baxter, the brain itself is compared to an expensive car in the way that it "can let you down."
Then, the question of physical appearance is also important toPerowne’s eyes. Being a highly-educated person, he feels he could cope with the situation easily and impose his will, if he weren’t dressed “as a scarecrow, in mangy fleece, his sweater with is row of holes,his paint-stained trousers supported by a knotted cord…”
Lastly, the question of education and to what extent differences in education may determine your possibilities in life. At one point,...
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