21st-century-learners

[21st-century-learners]

Are You Alive?

A Literary Analysis of Jeffery Deaver’s “Afraid”

Some authors struggle to provide readers the most thrilling roller coaster ride of a suspense narrative; nevertheless, thriller writer Jeffery Deaver can build psychologically complex characters, both heroes and antagonists. “Afraid” -- his original short story mainly revolves around Marissa and Antonio. Marissa is a beautiful woman with features of the north. She had been a runway model and afterward took up fashion design which she loves. However, she is forced to take over their family business -- managing the arts and antiques operation. Antonio, on the other hand, is a man full of mystery. They first met at a gallery on the Via Maggio, where Marissa’s company occasionally consigned arts and antiques, and there they found common ground with each other. Antonio took Marissa to his house in Florence. However, the journey from Florence’s Piazza della Stazione to Antonio’s house, an ancient, two-story stone mill with small windows barred with metal rods, made Marissa uneasy. Along the way, she encountered strange events. She obtained information from a strange old woman who gave her clues on what had happened to Antonio’s “wife” -- Lucia. The story went on with Marissa and Antonio arriving at the place and with Antonio retelling a boy who drowned. Marissa later realized that Antonio was a murderer who had killed his wife and the boy based on what she saw in the basement. When she was about to fall into despair, she saw the letter Antonio left her and found out that all of this was an elaborate horror script designed by Antonio. There have been many turning points in this story. The author titled the short story "Afraid" to allow readers to think about its connection to the content. How does this title relate to the following story? Does this title relate to the main character? Then we bring these questions to Jeffery Deaver’s story.

Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author who writes American contemporary crime/mystery fiction. He has written prolifically and published more than forty novels, a non-fiction law book and three collections of short stories. His novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. He is also a lyricist of a country-western album, and he’s received dozens of awards. Born on May 6, 1950, Jeffery Deaver grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. He studied journalism from the University of Missouri and later earned a degree in law from Fordham University. He began his professional career as a journalist then he practiced as an attorney. These career opportunities provided him with ample knowledge to embark on his writing career. His debut stand-alone novel Mistress of Justice was published in 1992. It is a mystery and legal thriller and Deaver’s law background came in handy to highlight legal issues. Subsequent to writing stand-alone thrillers, Deaver began to publish trilogy series in 1988. He wrote the Rune Trilogy (1988) and John Pellam series (1992). His successful series, Lincoln Rhyme, was published in 1997. The books in the series immediately climbed The New York Times Bestselling novels’ list. Afraid is a part of the short story compilation “More Twisted” which was published in 2006.

“My first and foremost goal is to keep readers turning the pages. Mickey Spillane said that people don't read books to get to the middle; they read to get to the end. And I've tried to embrace that philosophy in my writing,” said Jeffrey Deaver in an interview. 

Jeffrey Deaver has famously thrilled and chilled fans with tales of masterful villains and the brilliant minds who bring them to justice. His style in writing allows us to feel the thrill of reading suspense short stories like Afraid. He is able to creatively write the plot and characters, and we shall be analyzing them in the next few paragraphs.

One of the main characters in the story is Antonio. Based on the author's description, Antonio is a handsome man. He is an even figure, with thick, dark hair, brown eyes, and a ready smile. He is a native Florentine and works in the computer field. However, readers will feel a sense of mystery in this man, and his identity is not as simple as he said.

Antonio and Marissa met in a gallery, and the two had a good impression of each other. Marissa shared a lot about her unhappy past experiences in life. Seeing the hopelessness in the woman's eyes, Antonio made up his mind to create a terrifying "plot" for Marissa. On their way to Antonio's house for their weekend together, Antonio stopped the car at the curb of a run-down neighborhood, and that was where his plan started to take place. An old woman who introduced herself as Olga told Marissa that she resembled Lucia who died last year and she also seemed to recognize Antonio's car. After arriving at the destination, in Antonio's old mill, Antonio retold the story of a boy who drowned. This later made Marissa suspicious because Antonio said no one knows exactly what happened. Next, she saw his wedding photos with Lucia in the basement, and then Antonio portrayed himself as a murderous murderer. All of these happenings made Marissa terrified. How Jeffery Deaver characterizes Antonio will make readers feel the suspense of the story. The mood changes, and just like Marissa, readers may also feel unsafe and unsure of the situation. Readers might feel afraid that Antonio will do something crazy or hurt Marissa. As every word coming out from both mouths intensified and pushed through the climax, it builds fear toward readers.

The story continued with Marissa feeling helpless. Fear surrounded her like a long-lasting mist. She can only run away madly. As Marissa was about to escape from this place, the secret was gradually solved. Antonio confessed his identity; he is an artist whose medium is fear. He creates stories that will make people feel afraid. At the end of the story, he allowed Marissa to choose from the three phone numbers. One was the number to take her to the train station, the other was the local police station’s number, and the last was Antonio's number. He left after leaving the choice to Marissa. Antonio leaving Marissa and giving her some space and time to choose from the three phone numbers which might also get him in trouble allows readers to see the good side of this man. By leaving the place, Antonio was able to assure Marissa that he's nowhere near her and that she's safe. This act will make readers realize that Antonio cares about Marissa's well-being. When he wrote in the note that don't she think that being so afraid has made her feel exquisitely alive and that he singled her out to help her, it might make readers wonder if Antonio also has feelings for Marissa. Even if Marissa has a high chance of hating him, Antonio still chose to carry out the plan until the end. His bravery and other distinct characteristics makes Antonio's character so great yet so complex. These characteristics might also lead readers to think that Antonio and author Jeffery Deaver have some things in common.

Marissa Carrefiglio is another one of the two main characters in the story. She is a beautiful blonde woman who manages her family's business's arts and antiques operation. It was also mentioned that she fancies fashion a lot, being a runway model as her job when she was younger. Reading further, we could see how much she disliked her current job. However, without a choice to refuse her stern father's words, she is stuck with that job, being obedient at this point. This scene will make readers think about how society was back when women were meant to obey a man's order and remain silent. It will also make readers ponder if there are still cases like those of Marissa's until now.

"Nice work but there's an obvious problem with it," whispered a handsome man as Marissa responded with a frown, "Problem?" "Yes. The most beautiful angel has escaped from the scene and landed on the floor beside me," replied the man as he turned to her and smiled. This scene was where Marissa and Antonio first met. It seemed like she felt slightly bothered when the man first mentioned a problem with the tapestry. However, as their conversation continued, her slight bitterness slowly faded away, replacing it with a little bit of sweetness instead. The man somehow flirted in this scene, and here, we could see how she may act if someone were to have a problem with something, yet how fast her mood can change if the person were to figure out how. As Antonio listened about how melancholic Marissa’s life was, he starts to plot a “horrific act” to excite the young woman and help her escape from her own unhappy experiences. Marissa’s situation could be relatable to the experiences of others who have lived through a life filled with miserable experiences. And perhaps the readers might be able to imagine Marissa’s experiences happening to themselves, feeling the unhappiness in their kopfkinos or rather a scenario that would be playing in their minds.  

In the following scene, when Antonio stopped the car at the curb of a run-down neighborhood, left and took the car keys with him, it made Marissa feel trapped. The woman then spotted two twin boys staring by the sidewalk, which made her feel uncomfortable.  As soon as Marissa shifted her gaze away from the twin boys, she was shocked to see an old woman staring at her. The old woman’s name is Olga. Olga asked Marissa if she has a sister named Lucia because she resembles her, Marissa politely denied.  As the old woman was about to leave, Marissa asked her about who this Lucia is, showing a bit of her curious side at this point. In this scenario, readers may become curious like Marissa. The mystery of Lucia’s identity will make them intrigued and keep on reading to have their questions answered. When Marissa questioned the old woman about how she knew Lucia, Olga didn’t answer, instead she left quickly after apologizing. Antonio returned with a small, grey paper bag after Olga left momentarily.  At this point, the continuation of this scene will make readers even more curious about who Lucia truly is.  How Jeffery Deaver wrote the start of the suspense in this story could make the readers start thinking about what will happen next.  As Antonio and Marissa continued their long drive, her curiosity rose up more. And when Antonio told her about the death of a young boy at a fast-moving stream near their destination, the suspense started to build up.

Skipping to the part where she and Antonio have arrived at their destination, she suspects nothing at first. Later, Antonio asked Marissa to light up the candles that were beside the bed. She went to grab some matches in the kitchen and noticed that the wine cellar door was left unclosed. Marissa found it a bit odd to see that the inside were organized and spotless, unlike what he had told her earlier: “messy”. She went inside and paused when she saw a half-deflated soccer ball under the nearby table. Marissa remembered what Antonio had told her about the boy’s death, questioning how he knew it took half an hour for the lad to drown. She felt fear at this point, falling for the act Antonio had set up for her. This scene may give readers chills down the spine, given that Antonio had set up a horror act on Marissa.  Like he said, it felt great to feel alive once again.  Here, the readers might feel the fear Marissa was feeling, having goosebumps on their skins and the thoughts of what will be happening in the following scenes.

The hair-raising plot twist Jeffery Deaver wrote has indeed delivered the suspense and horror he wanted the readers to feel.  From the details of the scene to the words of the main characters, the horror he wanted to execute was a success. Without the brilliant illustration of Jeffrey Deaver’s characters, readers would miss much of the thrill of the story. Many people are feeling unhappy and hopeless; they do not feel “alive”. But Antonio, who is into horror and suspense stories, was able to help and give hope to Marissa’s unhappy life. We have our own skill and talent and this story encourages us to try and help others in our own little ways. Most of the time when we hear the word “afraid”, the first thing that comes to our mind is a negative thing. But this story shows readers the good side of it. Through this short story, Jeffery Deaver makes us ponder how being so afraid can make us feel alive, and how being so afraid can make us be more vigilant and aware of our surroundings.