Essay, Research Paper: Beyond Silence: Book Report

I. Plot
A. The two opposing characters in this story are Phineas, and Andrew. Phineas is a middle aged man who stays at the castle every summer; he is working on his doctoral dissertation, and wants to use Andrew to help him complete it. He is very driven, but takes other people for granted. Andrew is a 16 year old boy who is coming to visit the castle with his dad, he is still trying to cope with his older brothers death, which he feels responsible for. These two characters are engaged in conflict because of a combination of several things. When Andrew came to Scotland he began having "visions" of a girl who used to live near the castle he is visiting, he accidentally describes one of these experiences to Phineas. Phineas calls what is happening to Andrew "edetic experience" and Phineas just happens to be writing his doctoral dissertation on "edetic experiences", Phineas hopes to force Andrew to tell him all of these experiences so he can complete his dissertation with documented evidence. Andrew doesn't want to be used like this, after his brother died everyone was asking him questions about "how he felt," and he doesn't want to relive the experience. He also feels that by telling about these experiences he will be betraying the girl he is having the "visions" of.
B. The most significant event in the rising action part of the story was when Andrew ran out of the castle into the stormy night to the old greenhouse. At the greenhouse he sees Deirdre, which is a little strange since she died in 1944, and it is in the 70's in the book. When Andrew sees Deirdre he calls out her name, she turns to see who said her name and sees a branch about to fall on her, so she gets out of the way. In effect Andrew saves her life, even though the event for her took place in 1900. This is the most significant event in the story because it links what Andrew has been experiencing; to events that happened in the past.
C. The Climax scene in the story happened shortly after the greenhouse incident. When the branch fell and almost killed Deirdre it hit Andrew on the head, knocking him out. The next day he wakes up at the castle in his room, with Phineas sitting on his fathers bed looking at him. In this scene Phineas tells Andrew everything he knows about Andrews experiences (Phineas has been following Andrew around.) Phineas also tells Andrew why he is so interested in what has been happening to Andrew, and then he tells Andrew that he is the only one who can help him. Andrew rejects Phineas's offer, he later finds out that Phineas read a letter Andrew received when he first came to the castle. The letter was written by Deirdre in 1900, but was never sent. It sat in the castle until Andrew came to the castle; Andrew got the letter because it was addressed to someone who had his same name. The letter described, among other things, the event that happened at the greenhouse. This scene resolves the conflict because Phineas tells Andrew his "plans," and Andrew rejects him.
D. Basically the story ends by Andrew's vacation coming to and he goes home, but says he will return next summer. No I wasn't expecting this ending, I thought some sort of explanation of why Andrew was having his "visions of the past" would be given, instead he just goes home. The ending surprised me a little, at the end the author made you feel sorry for Phineas, and Andrew finally came to terms with his brothers death.

II. Characterization
A.
1. Andrew - One of his most significant traits was his sensitivity. He was very sensitive to what people said; if they said something he didn't like he would become very angry and withdrawn. This trait showed itself over and over again. One example was when the navy man came to the castle, and was saying how he thought all the draft dodgers should be locked up. Andrews brother was wounded in Vietnam, his brother went to fight even though he felt the war was wrong. This set Andrew off, and he went running off into the rainy night.
2. Phineas - Phineas's most significant trait was overbearing attitude. Through out the story he gave people the impression that the was better than they were at anything they did. One of his favorite things to do at the castle was after dinner he would chat with people in the sitting room, and then he would try to impress people with how much he knew. One good example of this was when he asked Andrew to play a game of scrabble, Phineas obviously thought he would win. Instead Andrew pounded him, when Andrew won Phineas was shocked. Another example of his overbearing attitude would surface when he played golf with other people. While playing golf he would tell everyone what they did wrong on a shot, whether they wanted to hear it or not.
3. Beth - Beth's most significant trait was her kindness. She was kind to everyone, even Phineas. A good example of this kindness was her attitude towards Andrew. Even though he was a perfect stranger, she was kind from the first day she met him. Because of this kindness Andrew felt like he was a member of her family.

B. Andrew experienced the greatest change in this story, in the beginning of this story he couldn't come to terms with his brothers death. At the end of the story he has come to terms with his brothers death, and no longer feels it is his fault. At the beginning of this story Andrew is haunted of nightmares of his brothers death; in these dreams his brother blames Andrew for his death. Andrew can't figure out why his brother blames him in these dreams. Towards the end of the story Andrew decides to hike to Western Sea, something he and his brother had planned to do when they visited Scotland. When Andrew reaches the Sea a memory of his becomes unblocked. His brother died in a car crash going down a mountain. That night his brother had a party at the lodge he was staying at, Andrew was staying with him. After the party Andrew's brother (Hogey), was helping his girlfriend pack up to go home. Hogey's leg was hurting from his war wound; he wanted Andrew to drive down the mountain. Andrew felt he didn't have enough experience to go down in the dark, on that twisting road. Hogey then made Andrew ride down with his girlfriend. On the way down Hogey raced by the car Andrew was in, and ten drove off the road. Andrew had blocked the conversation about him driving down the mountain, through his dreams he was feeling the guilt of not driving, and feeling that it was somehow his fault. When he remembers that conversation he realizes it wasn't his fault, that his brother didn't die with some sort of animosity towards Andrew. With this realization he is able to be at peace with his brothers death.


III. Theme
The theme of this story is difficult to pinpoint; it has something to do with coming to terms with tragedy, and getting on with your life. Many people become so paralyzed by a tragedy, that they can't go on living their life, they aren't able to move on, and continue living. At the beginning Andrew was like that, he really just stopped living when his brother died. But he was able to move on, and