Harry Lavender Essay

Discuss how the composer's ideas are conveyed through the textual forms
and features prescribed in the text you have studied.
"The life and crimes of harry lavender" composed by Marele Day is

described as a witty, wryly humorous and fast-paced thriller novel. The
story revolves around a female protagonist , Claudia Valentine. She
challenges the conventions and expectations of their time by her feminist
approach towards her occupation and male dominance. Being an
independent private detective, Claudia's' strong will power and courage
had fuelled her to solve the mysterious death of Mark Bannister. The
effects, style and structure of this Australian crime fiction creates
suspense for the target audience and the hard boiled sub-genre. The
central themes and concerns explored within this text are deception, good
vs evil and corruption within a modern society.
(Background info) The turn of suspicion began with a note only stating on
it "terminal illness", this note was anonymously given to Marilyn
Bannister, mark's sister. The notion behind this clue led to Marilyn to
contact an old school friend to examine the case. Mark's death was
proclaimed as cardiac arrest which Marilyn also thought was suspicious.
The cause of the death was Sydney's ruthless criminal underworld which
follows to the main culprit Harry Lavender. Harry's character portrayal of a
godfather like figure was built upon the foundation of his childhood. He
was a young isolated holocaust survivor which also shaped his cold-killer
nature. Days novel is seen as deceptive as the character portrayal of
Sally Villos is a fake faade for the majority of the novel. Day employs
descriptive words such as cute, flighty and ultimately dangerous which
is a modern day appropriation of a femme fatale, beautiful but morally
duplicitous. Sally vilos layered make up represents the external mask she
wears to the world. The significance of the recurring mirror motif
symbolises the fakeness of Sallys reflection illuminating that appearance
can be deceptive. Sally is caught and her web of lies are finally cleared up
as the investigation reveals the truth that she has relations with Harry
Lavender as his illegitimate daughter, epitomised in the repetition of third
person narration couple with ellipsis in I was hishishisdaughter.
The disclosure that sally is the person who injected heroin into Marks
body and played a major part in his murder has been encapsulated
utilising colloquial language coupled with alliteration in I wanted them to
think it was the smack hence deceiving the law about the actual motive
behind Marks death. During Marks funeral, Day further deceives the
audience with sallys fake grief at the funeral which is highlighted through
the rhetorical question in why?...why?.... Sally is metaphorically
reflected to be as the city of Sydney as Day via becoming the humanised
face of the city outwardly glamorous but inwardly despoiled again
emphasising the theme of appearance vs reality. Her callous insensitivity
is juxtaposed with valentines integrity as days employment of sport
imagery coupled with assonance in she looked at me cautiously, waiting
for me to open service helps characterise the cat and mouse relationship
between valentine and sally. Day utilises sally to continuously deceive
valentine and the audience whilst depicting that crime is a game that sally
vilos intends to win.
The Importance of good vs evil are strengthen by Claudia valentine and

harry lavender and the power play that develops between them in a race
to find the last remaining copy of bannisters manuscript. Claudias
investigation for answers to mark bannisters deaths brings her in grave
danger with the antagonist harry lavender. The use of first person within
Lavenders memoirs, assists in creating an underworld presence and
reveals another perception of Sydney, although this polish holocaust
survivor never appears in person. Days utilization of emphasized history
sets up the impact of harry lavender depicted by the unmistakable tone of
strength whilst showing a stark juxtaposition of dull and vile symbolism of
lavender as he is given a figurative feeling of being similar to cancer',
which is gradually obliterating the city of Sydney. This is uncovered
through Claudias expression, "the guiltlessness of a period past, before
the stench of lavender. Be that as it may, the stench had dependably been
there". Days utilization of the city of Sydney and the solid rule of harry
lavender, underneath the citys "sparkling exteriors", extend the
understanding that appearances can be misleading. The useful rule of
lavender if further implied through Claudias analogy, "I felt like an onion
with intense chestnut skin peeled off". Marele days decision of her home
town Sydney as a setting, incites a response from the peruse that the
novel is one of revelation, investigation and a quest for truth. The
relationship in the middle of valentine and lavender is additionally obvious
as we made mindful that appearances can be beguiling as Claudia is
gotten between the universe of wrongdoing and an aching for some
steadiness. A consciousness of valentine and her childrens mortality are
exemplified by flashbacks to her youth whilst strengthening Claudias
unpredictable and defenseless characterisation. This is portrayed through
the hyperbolic explanation couple with recurring theme of the eyes
symbolism "the length of I didn't begin draining from the eyeballs".
Claudia straightforwardly addresses the audience about how she sees the
world in her figurative, alliterative description of "the most established

lady on the planet showed up through everything I could see an eye,
modest blue lake in a desert of wrinkled hills". Valentine determines that
being a female in the hardboiled investigator world van be favourable
position in light of the fact that individuals open up to her effectively
which helps in the exposure of the puzzle behind who set the defective
pacemaker in imprint rail whilst the gathering of people are presented to
the intention of his demise.
Days characterisation of harry lavender as a supreme figure passes on her

worries that wrongdoing pays inside of a present day society whilst
making force. Lavenders haughty voice is typified through obvious and
meddling utilization of first individual solitary and possessive pronouns, "I"
and "my". Lavenders rehashed reference to "purple" and his hyperbolic
dreams of a state burial service accentuate his egocentric mentality as
does the way he portrays his life as "history". His megalomaniac identity
is likewise stressed by day through lavenders appointment of the Ode "at
the going down of the citys child they will recollect that me" which
highlights his twisted feeling of self. Day utilizes a change from first to
third individual dialect "THEY WILL WANT to know the beginnings, the tyke
that makes the man" to portray his adolescence which serves to build up
the foundation of the character, giving the group of onlookers a more
noteworthy understanding into the brutal impact on mankind of fierce
world occasions, for example, war. The imagery joined in lavenders
presentation "I have ventured of to those boat of idiots" depicts his own
conviction to turn into the oppressor as opposed to the casualty. Claudia's
inference to lavender 'the ever show obscurity they would rather overlook'
plainly portrays the abhorrent that works inside of the city, furthermore
inside of him. Day depicts lavenders life and criminal acts as "long and
renowned" and anticipates the reason that he will "survive passing".
Lavender is graphically exhibited as considerable as he will be leaving a
"mountain with (his) name on it" which unmistakably underscores days
worry that society is permitting malice to win unpunished.
The life and crimes of harry lavender is a highly modernised novel that
mirrors the stereotypical male investigator and

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Discuss how the composer's ideas are conveyed through the textual forms

and features prescribed in the text you have studied.

"The life and crimes of harry lavender" composed by Marele Day is

The Importance of good vs evil are strengthen by Claudia valentine and

world in her figurative, alliterative description of "the most established

Days characterisation of harry lavender as a supreme figure passes on her

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