Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix Essay Example

reachable, it has been dramatically unavailable for them. Hence, Jessie’s mother as the village midwife sent Jessie outside the village to find possible cure for diphtheria. Jessie began to discover a totally different world for her. Although previously briefed by her mom, she was still surprised by the modernization of the world behind those cameras, and wandered strategically to fulfill her mission.

Several adventures were exciting and thrilling. Furthermore, in association to the diphtheria disease outbreak, Jessie was horrified knowing that the founder of the said village isolation was trying to make a gene pool for further studies making the village residence the subject of experimentation. A not so happy ending approached with a number of extinctions as a terrible result of the so-called captivity of the villagers including Jessie’s family. Setting The setting of the novel happens in the small village situated at the frontier town of Clifton, Indiana.

Residents are having a happy and simple life as plain and as normal as what the circa 1840’s people tend to live. However, the setting of the story transforms as the revelation of the real world of a technologically advanced 1996 alienate the lead character Jessie which forced her to live in an estrange surroundings that she never had imagined. Character Thirteen-year old teenage girl Jessie Keyser, the eldest among the six children of a midwife and a blacksmith is the protagonist of the story.

Its character seems to be plain yet full of escapades, which found in the middle of the story until ending. Character development of the lead character Jessie, with the help of her mom and other characters evolves as the setting suddenly changed from

a flat characterization to round to dynamic in its own way as the story transits from a 19th century platform to a modernized 20th century. Antagonists such as Mr. Neeley or Frank Lyle and Miles Clifton also played vital roles in the novel which made the conflicts of the story more interesting and full of suspense.

Theme Running Out of Time novel relatively belongs in a dystopian-thematic literature. Its central concept states the ability of one to control over people’s lives, and the will of another party to challenged, overruled, just refused or won over the authoritative party irregardless of how immature Jessie is. With this kind of theme, the conflict of its story remains mysterious and suspenseful, good enough for the readers to figure out the puzzle that incite Haddix in her novel. Symbolism

The log cabin where the family of Jessie lives is one of the major symbolisms which emblematically represents a house or a private property and a safe haven for a family. Moreover, this log cabin suggests tamed and primitive kind of living far from materialistic world of mankind. Yet, it is still within the locality of the village from which, in the story, is subjected on a merciless experimentation of some as historical village tourist attraction with the use of cameras, which are therefore intruments to invade the privacy of the villagers/residents especially the family of Jessie.

Thus, the log cabin is also a radical representation of a prison cell for them. Another symbolism which make the story more convincible and interesting is the hidden camera where the tourists watch the villagers because camera denotes splitting up of two completely different worlds: the

reality and the idealism. Conclusion The book itself was a big surprise for a reader like me as it covers a setting within a setting and a plot within a plot.

Although the novel is short, it successfully provided the storyline that any wise reader fond of historical tales and time travel stories is looking for. The transitions of events and the twist was carefully arranged as the novel was designed a plot driven story and not just a character driven one. With the kind of story and conflicts it has, the novel gave a very promising reading material which will entertain and satisfy not just the young minds but adult-thrilling readers as well.