Analysis of The Elements of Plot in Michael Crichton's 'State of Fear'.
ABSTRACT
Tugas akhir ini dibuat dalam rangka memenuhi persyaratan untuk
memperoleh gelar Sarjana. Topiknya adalah elemen alur cerita, atau istilahnya
plot dalam bahasa Inggris. Secara khusus, tesis ini mendiskusikan elemen
suspense, surprise, dan artistic unity dalam karya sastra berbentuk novel yang
berjudul State of Fear karangan Michael Crichton. Elemen-elemen alur cerita
tersebut dapat ditentukan melalui analisis jalan cerita dan perkembangannya di
sepanjang novel. Hasilnya kemudian dianalisis kembali agar penulis dapat
menyimpulkan kualitas novel dan keberhasilan pengarang novel tersebut dalam
menuliskan jalan cerita yang baik. Hasil dari seluruh analisis novel ini membawa
penulis pada kesimpulan yang menunjukkan bahwa State of Fear dibentuk oleh
elemen-elemen alur cerita yang ditulis dan disusun dengan baik serta saling
berkesinambungan, sehingga menjadi novel yang baik.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ............................................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................ 3
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................... 3
Method of Research .................................................................................... 4
Organization of the Thesis .......................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO:ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT IN
MICHAEL CRICHTON'S STATE OF FEAR ................................................... 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 24
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 29
APPENDICES
Synopsis of State of Fear .......................................................................... 30
Biography of Michael Crichton................................................................. 31
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of State of Fear
Peter Evans is a lawyer employed by George Morton, a millionaire and
philanthropist who funds the operation of NERF, an environmental organization
fighting for a lawsuit that condemns global warming. One day, George Morton
becomes suspicious of how NERF is spending his money. After spending some
time investigating NERF secretly, Morton decides to withdraw his support for
NERF. However, he quite suddenly dies in a car crash. The death of Morton
leaves Evans, together with Morton’s secretary named Sarah Jones, to further
investigate the suspicious activities behind NERF. Helped by the military-trained
John Kenner and Sanjong Thapa, Evans and Sarah uncovers ELF, an extremist
environmental organization trying to drive the public and the media to think that
global warming is real and dangerous. ELF uses technology to create disasters that
harm people and they will then accuse global warming as the culprit.
Evans and his group travel to various places from the Antarctica to
McKinley State Park, to the Resolution Bay on the island of Gareda in the Pacific,
to prevent the eco-terrorists from completing their evil deed. ELF’s last attempt is
to generate a massive tsunami that will strike the coast of California. Evans,
together with Sarah, Kenner, and Sanjong, as well as Morton who turns out to
30
have faked his death, go to the dangerous island and in the end succeed in averting
the potential catastrophe.
Biography of Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton was an American author famous for his work on the
science fiction and medical thrillers genre. Born on the 23rd of October 1942, in
Chicago, Illinois, Crichton was also a renowned General Practitioner, producer,
director, and screenwriter, whose name first rocketed to fame when Jurassic Park
was made into one of the highest-grossing movie adaptation in 1993.
Crichton has expressed his interest in writing since he was young, and
even wrote a column for the The New York Times magazine at the age of 14. His
interest in writing was influenced by his father, John Henderson Crichton, who
worked as a journalist. Before enrolling in Harvard Medical School and getting
his M.D. degree, Crichton once pursued undergraduate studies in literature.
However, an issue with the department made him switch his concentration to
biological anthrophology, from which he obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1964.
Crichton has always wanted to become a writer but did not think he could
make a living as a writer, hence he enrolled in Medical School. However, his
works that were only intended to pay for his tuition began to be successful, so
after graduating, Crichton finally decided to write full time. He started to become
famous mostly for his best-selling novels such as The Andromeda Strain and The
Great Train Robbery. He was also successful when he ventured into the film
industry where he, amongst others, produced the critically-acclaimed ER
television drama series, which won him the George Foster Peabody Award and
31
the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. Besides the wellknown Jurassic Park, many of his novels are also adapted into movies, some of
which are The Andromeda Strain, Rising Sun, Disclosure, Sphere, and Congo.
Michael Crichton, whom many regard as the father of the techno-thriller
genre together with Tom Clancy, died on 4 November 2008 in Los Angeles. He
was diagnosed with throat cancer in early 2008, but was expected to make a
recovery. Unfortunately, Michael Crichton succumbed to the illness at the age of
66, leaving behind his fifth wife, Sherri Alexander, and two children.
Source : “Michael Crichton. Biography”
“Q & A with Michael Crichton”
Smith, David
32
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Michael Crichton is one of the most famous and successful American
authors who has created not only best-selling novels but also television series and
films. He is unique in the fact that he is also a physician, producer, director, and
screenwriter, who has contributed mostly to the science fiction and thriller genre.
He was the recipient of Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award in
1968 and the Association of American Medical Writers Award in 1970, and he
also received a few awards for his work on the ER TV series and The Great Train
Robbery movie in 1980. Michael Crichton’s works are easily recognized from
their distinctive style of having very thorough technical details, especially
regarding technology. Because of this, Crichton, together with another famous
American author, Tom Clancy, is considered the father of the modern technothriller. Some of Crichton’s techno-thriller novels are also very successful, namely
The Andromeda Strain (1969), Jurassic Park (1990), Airframe (1996), Prey
(2002), Next (2006), and State of Fear (2004).
The term techno-thriller is used to define a novel, in which the excitement
of the plot depends in large part upon the technical details and descriptions of
1
Maranatha Christian University
technology, including computers, weapons, software, military technology, or other
machines. (“techno-thriller”) I think that in this modern day, techno-thriller has
become a major appeal in the broader scope of the thriller genre. It emphasizes on
plausible future technology, hence making it very exciting for many, especially
for the increasingly tech-savvy people of today’s society. Furthermore, I believe
this appeal is especially true for Crichton’s State of Fear.
State of Fear, first published in 2004, sparks controversy about the
increasingly significant topic of Global Warming, because it contains Michael
Crichton’s provocative point of view regarding the topic. State of Fear contradicts
the popular belief of Global Warming being a modern-day crisis, and puts up ecoterrorism supported by futuristic technology to emphasize its purpose.
Interestingly, State of Fear has enjoyed many favourable reviews and been
dubbed “one of Crichton’s best” (Kirschling), and it received Geosciences in the
Media award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, or AAPG, in
2006. In my opinion, State of Fear truly brims with moments of tension and
suspense, and it presents fascinating elaboration of the various technology and
technical details.
According to Laurence Perrine, plot is “the sequence of incidents or events
of which a story is composed.” (45) Naturally, the sequence of incidents or events
to be discussed in a techno-thriller novel should consist of an element of plot that
thrills and brings excitement to the reader and that makes the reader wonder about
how the story unfolds. This element, according to Perrine, is what we call
suspense. More specifically, Perrine writes that suspense is “the quality in a story
that makes the reader ask ‘What’s going to happen next?’ or ‘How will this turn
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out?’ and impels him to read on to find the answers to these questions.” (45)
However, Perrine also explains that suspense cannot exist if the reader knows
exactly what is going to happen in the story and why. Therefore, a good plot also
needs a degree of unexpectedness of what happens in the story, which comes in
the form of surprise. The element of surprise becomes pronounced when the story
deviates widely or departs radically from the reader’s expectation (47).
When we discuss the plot of a story, Artistic Unity is a key element to
determine whether it is a good plot or not. Laurence Perrine states that to achieve
an Artistic Unity, everything must be relevant to the central intention of the story,
contribute to its total meaning, and must also be arranged in the most effective
order to make a logical story progression. (49) Therefore, I am interested and
deliberately driven to discuss how Michael Crichton’s State of Fear delivers the
excitement of its plot, which comes through moments of suspense and surprising
revelations, and whether the arrangements of the elements of plot sufficiently
present an artistic unity or not.
Statement of the Problem
The problems that are going to be analysed in this thesis are:
1.
Which parts of the story act as suspense in the novel?
2.
Which parts of the story act as a surprise in the novel?
3.
How is the artistic unity presented in the novel?
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Maranatha Christian University
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem, this study has the following
purposes:
1.
To reveal the suspense in the novel
2.
To reveal the surprise in the novel
3.
To show how the artistic unity is presented in the novel
Method of Research
I use library research in writing my thesis. I begin by reading State of Fear
as the primary text, followed by classification of data gathered from the novel in
accordance with the purpose of the study. Next, I refer to books of theories of
literature which serve as the base for my analysis of portrayal. In addition, I
search for other references from the Internet to support my analysis. Finally, I
draw conclusions based on my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters preceded by the Acknowledgements,
the Table of Contents, and the Abstract. Chapter One consists of the Introduction,
which includes the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problems, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
My analysis on the elements of plot in Michael Crichton’s State of Fear is in
Chapter Two. Chapter Three is the Conclusion. It is followed by the Bibliography
and the Appendices which consist of Synopsis of State of Fear and the Biography
of Michael Crichton.
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After reading and analysing the State of Fear, I come to the conclusion
that the author, Michael Crichton, has the ability to create a good plot. Crichton
succeeds in presenting moments of suspense through various actions, events and
grand technologies, to create appropriate elements of plot that result in a wellarranged story.
The first suspense is about how George Morton, the millionaire who is
supporting NERF and is planning to donate a significant amount of money to the
organization, suddenly decides to withdraw his support. This suspense makes the
reader curious about the reason behind his decision, especially because Morton is
previously known as a very enthusiastic supporter of NERF. The suspense is
answered by a surprise when John Kenner reveals the involvement of the
extremist ELF organization and its connection to NERF, which Morton has
discovered and become the reason for him to refuse to continue supporting NERF
with his money. It is evident that the first suspense and the first surprise are
acceptable and believable.
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The second suspense happens when George Morton is involved in a car
crash, and is presumed to have died. In the banquet held by NERF before the
accident, Morton shocks almost everyone who attends when he announces his
decision to withdraw his support for NERF. His announcement creates an
atmosphere of anger and disapproval among the audience, which also includes the
head of NERF itself, who clearly shows his anger. The situation makes the reader
curious about whether the car crash is truly an accident or not. The suspense is
answered by a surprise when George Morton turns out to be alive. Morton stages
the accident and fakes his death so that he can continue his investigation around
NERF and ELF more freely. It is apparent that the second suspense and the fifth
surprise are believable and hence, acceptable.
The third suspense happens when the group of protagonists reveals the
locations where the extremist organization ELF plans to carry out their major
events, the first of which is the Antarctica. The reader immediately wants to know
what ELF plans to do in the Antarctica, and whether the group of protagonists will
be able to stop the plan. The suspense is answered by a surprise when the group of
protagonists arrives at the Antarctica and figures out that ELF is planning to break
off a huge part of an iceberg when an environmental conference is held by NERF.
ELF wants to attract the media so that they will believe in the negative effects of
global warming. Furthermore, the group of protagonists is also able to stop ELF
from completing their plan in the Antarctica. ELF uses special bombs that will be
placed in a specific pattern to achieve their plan, which is disrupted and foiled
when John Kenner disturbs the pattern of the bombs. From the analysis above, the
third suspense and the second surprise are believable and acceptable.
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The fourth suspense shows when the group of protagonists discovers the
location where ELF plans to carry out their next major event, which is McKinley
State Park. ELF is revealed to possess the technology that can even control the
weather, which makes the reader excited to find out what ELF is planning to
achieve by attempting to control the weather, and whether the group of
protagonists will be able to stop them or not. The suspense is answered by a
surprise when ELF is shown to control a storm that is intended to cause civilian
casualties, to attract the attention of the media to the danger of global warming. It
shows how much ELF is willing to do to achieve their objective. The reader is
also surprised when the group of protagonists is shown to successfully prevent the
loss of innocent lives. ELF manage to carry out their plan to strengthen the storm
enough to cause floods in the park, but the group of protagonists is able to disrupt
and prevent ELF from causing a truly dangerous flash flood. It is clear that the
fourth suspense and the third surprise are plausible and acceptable.
The fifth suspense happens when the group of protagonists goes to the last
location where ELF plans to carry out their last major event, which is Resolution
Bay on the island of Gareda where ELF is revealed to have prepared advanced
and sophisticated equipment. The suspense makes the reader curious about what
ELF is planning to do with such sophisticated equipment in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, and also whether the group of protagonists can stop the plan from
happening. The suspense is answered by a surprise when the equipment that ELF
has prepared is revealed to be capable of creating waves of tsunami that are
targeted to strike California, half a world away. Once again, ELF is planning to
use technology to attract the media and make people believe that the unnatural
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disaster is caused by global warming. Furthermore, the reader is also surprised by
the fact that the group of protagonists is able to fight against ELF and prevent
them from devastating California despite the unfavorable situation. The group
manages to take advantage of an opportunity to attack the ELF base when John
Kenner creates a distraction, and hence succeeded in turning off one of the
machine that is essential in creating the tsunami. From the explanation above, it is
apparent that the fifth suspense and the fourth surprise, as well as the sixth
surprise are believable and acceptable.
The sixth suspense shows how dangerous the situation is for the group of
major characters, as they are ambushed and captured by a tribe of cannibals on the
island of Gareda. After one person from the group dies at the hand of the
cannibals, the reader wants to know if the rest of the group will survive. The
suspense is answered by a surprise which shows that George Morton is actually
alive after being assumed to have died in a car accident earlier in the story. He
staged the car accident to investigate NERF and ELF, which leads him to the
island where the group of major characters also goes to. Morton witnesses the
moment when the group of major characters are captured, follows them to the
village of the cannibals, and helps them escape from the village. It is obvious that
the sixth suspense and the fifth surprise are plausible and acceptable.
Based on my analysis, I can conclude that State of Fear is a well-made
novel. The novel tells the story not only about global warming but also about the
struggle between the people and the organization with conflicting beliefs around
the issue of global warming. In my opinion, Michael Crichton has presented an
interesting real-life issue and fascinating technology to make a logical
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development of the plot. He is good at delivering the suspense that is intertwined
with moments of mystery, and often wondrous technology, in such a way that the
reader feels curious about what will happen next. Crichton is also skillful at
surprising the reader with unexpected surprises that logically and appropriately
answer the reader’s curiosity. As the conclusion, the connections between all the
suspense and the surprises in the novel are acceptable and plausible and create an
artistic unity that makes State of Fear very interesting to read. In addition, I think
Michael Crichton presents all the elements of plot in a balanced proportion,
without highlighting one element more than the others. Consequently, State of
Fear presents numerous moments of exciting suspense that is balanced with the
right number of unexpected surprises in the story, which results in a good artistic
unity and a continuously enjoyable story.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
Crichton, Michael. State of Fear. New York: Avon Books, 2004. Print.
References
“About Michael Crichton”. Michael Crichton The Official Site. 2013. Web. 12
Feb. 2014.
Kirschling, Gregory. “State of Fear”. Entertainment Weekly. 797: 17 Dec. 2004. 5
Feb. 2014.
“Michael Crichton”. The Biography Channel. 2014. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. Atlanta: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1974. Print.
“Q & A with Michael Crichton”. Michael Crichton The Official Site. 2013. Web.
10 Aug. 2014.
Smith, David. “King of techno-thriller.” theguardian. Dec 2006. Web. 12 Feb.
2014.
“Techno-thriller”. Oxford Dictionaries. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
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Maranatha Christian University
Tugas akhir ini dibuat dalam rangka memenuhi persyaratan untuk
memperoleh gelar Sarjana. Topiknya adalah elemen alur cerita, atau istilahnya
plot dalam bahasa Inggris. Secara khusus, tesis ini mendiskusikan elemen
suspense, surprise, dan artistic unity dalam karya sastra berbentuk novel yang
berjudul State of Fear karangan Michael Crichton. Elemen-elemen alur cerita
tersebut dapat ditentukan melalui analisis jalan cerita dan perkembangannya di
sepanjang novel. Hasilnya kemudian dianalisis kembali agar penulis dapat
menyimpulkan kualitas novel dan keberhasilan pengarang novel tersebut dalam
menuliskan jalan cerita yang baik. Hasil dari seluruh analisis novel ini membawa
penulis pada kesimpulan yang menunjukkan bahwa State of Fear dibentuk oleh
elemen-elemen alur cerita yang ditulis dan disusun dengan baik serta saling
berkesinambungan, sehingga menjadi novel yang baik.
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Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study ............................................................................. 1
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................ 3
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................... 3
Method of Research .................................................................................... 4
Organization of the Thesis .......................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO:ANALYSIS OF THE ELEMENTS OF PLOT IN
MICHAEL CRICHTON'S STATE OF FEAR ................................................... 5
CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION ............................................................... 24
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 29
APPENDICES
Synopsis of State of Fear .......................................................................... 30
Biography of Michael Crichton................................................................. 31
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APPENDICES
Synopsis of State of Fear
Peter Evans is a lawyer employed by George Morton, a millionaire and
philanthropist who funds the operation of NERF, an environmental organization
fighting for a lawsuit that condemns global warming. One day, George Morton
becomes suspicious of how NERF is spending his money. After spending some
time investigating NERF secretly, Morton decides to withdraw his support for
NERF. However, he quite suddenly dies in a car crash. The death of Morton
leaves Evans, together with Morton’s secretary named Sarah Jones, to further
investigate the suspicious activities behind NERF. Helped by the military-trained
John Kenner and Sanjong Thapa, Evans and Sarah uncovers ELF, an extremist
environmental organization trying to drive the public and the media to think that
global warming is real and dangerous. ELF uses technology to create disasters that
harm people and they will then accuse global warming as the culprit.
Evans and his group travel to various places from the Antarctica to
McKinley State Park, to the Resolution Bay on the island of Gareda in the Pacific,
to prevent the eco-terrorists from completing their evil deed. ELF’s last attempt is
to generate a massive tsunami that will strike the coast of California. Evans,
together with Sarah, Kenner, and Sanjong, as well as Morton who turns out to
30
have faked his death, go to the dangerous island and in the end succeed in averting
the potential catastrophe.
Biography of Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton was an American author famous for his work on the
science fiction and medical thrillers genre. Born on the 23rd of October 1942, in
Chicago, Illinois, Crichton was also a renowned General Practitioner, producer,
director, and screenwriter, whose name first rocketed to fame when Jurassic Park
was made into one of the highest-grossing movie adaptation in 1993.
Crichton has expressed his interest in writing since he was young, and
even wrote a column for the The New York Times magazine at the age of 14. His
interest in writing was influenced by his father, John Henderson Crichton, who
worked as a journalist. Before enrolling in Harvard Medical School and getting
his M.D. degree, Crichton once pursued undergraduate studies in literature.
However, an issue with the department made him switch his concentration to
biological anthrophology, from which he obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1964.
Crichton has always wanted to become a writer but did not think he could
make a living as a writer, hence he enrolled in Medical School. However, his
works that were only intended to pay for his tuition began to be successful, so
after graduating, Crichton finally decided to write full time. He started to become
famous mostly for his best-selling novels such as The Andromeda Strain and The
Great Train Robbery. He was also successful when he ventured into the film
industry where he, amongst others, produced the critically-acclaimed ER
television drama series, which won him the George Foster Peabody Award and
31
the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. Besides the wellknown Jurassic Park, many of his novels are also adapted into movies, some of
which are The Andromeda Strain, Rising Sun, Disclosure, Sphere, and Congo.
Michael Crichton, whom many regard as the father of the techno-thriller
genre together with Tom Clancy, died on 4 November 2008 in Los Angeles. He
was diagnosed with throat cancer in early 2008, but was expected to make a
recovery. Unfortunately, Michael Crichton succumbed to the illness at the age of
66, leaving behind his fifth wife, Sherri Alexander, and two children.
Source : “Michael Crichton. Biography”
“Q & A with Michael Crichton”
Smith, David
32
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Michael Crichton is one of the most famous and successful American
authors who has created not only best-selling novels but also television series and
films. He is unique in the fact that he is also a physician, producer, director, and
screenwriter, who has contributed mostly to the science fiction and thriller genre.
He was the recipient of Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award in
1968 and the Association of American Medical Writers Award in 1970, and he
also received a few awards for his work on the ER TV series and The Great Train
Robbery movie in 1980. Michael Crichton’s works are easily recognized from
their distinctive style of having very thorough technical details, especially
regarding technology. Because of this, Crichton, together with another famous
American author, Tom Clancy, is considered the father of the modern technothriller. Some of Crichton’s techno-thriller novels are also very successful, namely
The Andromeda Strain (1969), Jurassic Park (1990), Airframe (1996), Prey
(2002), Next (2006), and State of Fear (2004).
The term techno-thriller is used to define a novel, in which the excitement
of the plot depends in large part upon the technical details and descriptions of
1
Maranatha Christian University
technology, including computers, weapons, software, military technology, or other
machines. (“techno-thriller”) I think that in this modern day, techno-thriller has
become a major appeal in the broader scope of the thriller genre. It emphasizes on
plausible future technology, hence making it very exciting for many, especially
for the increasingly tech-savvy people of today’s society. Furthermore, I believe
this appeal is especially true for Crichton’s State of Fear.
State of Fear, first published in 2004, sparks controversy about the
increasingly significant topic of Global Warming, because it contains Michael
Crichton’s provocative point of view regarding the topic. State of Fear contradicts
the popular belief of Global Warming being a modern-day crisis, and puts up ecoterrorism supported by futuristic technology to emphasize its purpose.
Interestingly, State of Fear has enjoyed many favourable reviews and been
dubbed “one of Crichton’s best” (Kirschling), and it received Geosciences in the
Media award by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, or AAPG, in
2006. In my opinion, State of Fear truly brims with moments of tension and
suspense, and it presents fascinating elaboration of the various technology and
technical details.
According to Laurence Perrine, plot is “the sequence of incidents or events
of which a story is composed.” (45) Naturally, the sequence of incidents or events
to be discussed in a techno-thriller novel should consist of an element of plot that
thrills and brings excitement to the reader and that makes the reader wonder about
how the story unfolds. This element, according to Perrine, is what we call
suspense. More specifically, Perrine writes that suspense is “the quality in a story
that makes the reader ask ‘What’s going to happen next?’ or ‘How will this turn
2
Maranatha Christian University
out?’ and impels him to read on to find the answers to these questions.” (45)
However, Perrine also explains that suspense cannot exist if the reader knows
exactly what is going to happen in the story and why. Therefore, a good plot also
needs a degree of unexpectedness of what happens in the story, which comes in
the form of surprise. The element of surprise becomes pronounced when the story
deviates widely or departs radically from the reader’s expectation (47).
When we discuss the plot of a story, Artistic Unity is a key element to
determine whether it is a good plot or not. Laurence Perrine states that to achieve
an Artistic Unity, everything must be relevant to the central intention of the story,
contribute to its total meaning, and must also be arranged in the most effective
order to make a logical story progression. (49) Therefore, I am interested and
deliberately driven to discuss how Michael Crichton’s State of Fear delivers the
excitement of its plot, which comes through moments of suspense and surprising
revelations, and whether the arrangements of the elements of plot sufficiently
present an artistic unity or not.
Statement of the Problem
The problems that are going to be analysed in this thesis are:
1.
Which parts of the story act as suspense in the novel?
2.
Which parts of the story act as a surprise in the novel?
3.
How is the artistic unity presented in the novel?
3
Maranatha Christian University
Purpose of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem, this study has the following
purposes:
1.
To reveal the suspense in the novel
2.
To reveal the surprise in the novel
3.
To show how the artistic unity is presented in the novel
Method of Research
I use library research in writing my thesis. I begin by reading State of Fear
as the primary text, followed by classification of data gathered from the novel in
accordance with the purpose of the study. Next, I refer to books of theories of
literature which serve as the base for my analysis of portrayal. In addition, I
search for other references from the Internet to support my analysis. Finally, I
draw conclusions based on my analysis.
Organization of the Thesis
This thesis consists of three chapters preceded by the Acknowledgements,
the Table of Contents, and the Abstract. Chapter One consists of the Introduction,
which includes the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problems, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
My analysis on the elements of plot in Michael Crichton’s State of Fear is in
Chapter Two. Chapter Three is the Conclusion. It is followed by the Bibliography
and the Appendices which consist of Synopsis of State of Fear and the Biography
of Michael Crichton.
4
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
After reading and analysing the State of Fear, I come to the conclusion
that the author, Michael Crichton, has the ability to create a good plot. Crichton
succeeds in presenting moments of suspense through various actions, events and
grand technologies, to create appropriate elements of plot that result in a wellarranged story.
The first suspense is about how George Morton, the millionaire who is
supporting NERF and is planning to donate a significant amount of money to the
organization, suddenly decides to withdraw his support. This suspense makes the
reader curious about the reason behind his decision, especially because Morton is
previously known as a very enthusiastic supporter of NERF. The suspense is
answered by a surprise when John Kenner reveals the involvement of the
extremist ELF organization and its connection to NERF, which Morton has
discovered and become the reason for him to refuse to continue supporting NERF
with his money. It is evident that the first suspense and the first surprise are
acceptable and believable.
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The second suspense happens when George Morton is involved in a car
crash, and is presumed to have died. In the banquet held by NERF before the
accident, Morton shocks almost everyone who attends when he announces his
decision to withdraw his support for NERF. His announcement creates an
atmosphere of anger and disapproval among the audience, which also includes the
head of NERF itself, who clearly shows his anger. The situation makes the reader
curious about whether the car crash is truly an accident or not. The suspense is
answered by a surprise when George Morton turns out to be alive. Morton stages
the accident and fakes his death so that he can continue his investigation around
NERF and ELF more freely. It is apparent that the second suspense and the fifth
surprise are believable and hence, acceptable.
The third suspense happens when the group of protagonists reveals the
locations where the extremist organization ELF plans to carry out their major
events, the first of which is the Antarctica. The reader immediately wants to know
what ELF plans to do in the Antarctica, and whether the group of protagonists will
be able to stop the plan. The suspense is answered by a surprise when the group of
protagonists arrives at the Antarctica and figures out that ELF is planning to break
off a huge part of an iceberg when an environmental conference is held by NERF.
ELF wants to attract the media so that they will believe in the negative effects of
global warming. Furthermore, the group of protagonists is also able to stop ELF
from completing their plan in the Antarctica. ELF uses special bombs that will be
placed in a specific pattern to achieve their plan, which is disrupted and foiled
when John Kenner disturbs the pattern of the bombs. From the analysis above, the
third suspense and the second surprise are believable and acceptable.
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The fourth suspense shows when the group of protagonists discovers the
location where ELF plans to carry out their next major event, which is McKinley
State Park. ELF is revealed to possess the technology that can even control the
weather, which makes the reader excited to find out what ELF is planning to
achieve by attempting to control the weather, and whether the group of
protagonists will be able to stop them or not. The suspense is answered by a
surprise when ELF is shown to control a storm that is intended to cause civilian
casualties, to attract the attention of the media to the danger of global warming. It
shows how much ELF is willing to do to achieve their objective. The reader is
also surprised when the group of protagonists is shown to successfully prevent the
loss of innocent lives. ELF manage to carry out their plan to strengthen the storm
enough to cause floods in the park, but the group of protagonists is able to disrupt
and prevent ELF from causing a truly dangerous flash flood. It is clear that the
fourth suspense and the third surprise are plausible and acceptable.
The fifth suspense happens when the group of protagonists goes to the last
location where ELF plans to carry out their last major event, which is Resolution
Bay on the island of Gareda where ELF is revealed to have prepared advanced
and sophisticated equipment. The suspense makes the reader curious about what
ELF is planning to do with such sophisticated equipment in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, and also whether the group of protagonists can stop the plan from
happening. The suspense is answered by a surprise when the equipment that ELF
has prepared is revealed to be capable of creating waves of tsunami that are
targeted to strike California, half a world away. Once again, ELF is planning to
use technology to attract the media and make people believe that the unnatural
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disaster is caused by global warming. Furthermore, the reader is also surprised by
the fact that the group of protagonists is able to fight against ELF and prevent
them from devastating California despite the unfavorable situation. The group
manages to take advantage of an opportunity to attack the ELF base when John
Kenner creates a distraction, and hence succeeded in turning off one of the
machine that is essential in creating the tsunami. From the explanation above, it is
apparent that the fifth suspense and the fourth surprise, as well as the sixth
surprise are believable and acceptable.
The sixth suspense shows how dangerous the situation is for the group of
major characters, as they are ambushed and captured by a tribe of cannibals on the
island of Gareda. After one person from the group dies at the hand of the
cannibals, the reader wants to know if the rest of the group will survive. The
suspense is answered by a surprise which shows that George Morton is actually
alive after being assumed to have died in a car accident earlier in the story. He
staged the car accident to investigate NERF and ELF, which leads him to the
island where the group of major characters also goes to. Morton witnesses the
moment when the group of major characters are captured, follows them to the
village of the cannibals, and helps them escape from the village. It is obvious that
the sixth suspense and the fifth surprise are plausible and acceptable.
Based on my analysis, I can conclude that State of Fear is a well-made
novel. The novel tells the story not only about global warming but also about the
struggle between the people and the organization with conflicting beliefs around
the issue of global warming. In my opinion, Michael Crichton has presented an
interesting real-life issue and fascinating technology to make a logical
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development of the plot. He is good at delivering the suspense that is intertwined
with moments of mystery, and often wondrous technology, in such a way that the
reader feels curious about what will happen next. Crichton is also skillful at
surprising the reader with unexpected surprises that logically and appropriately
answer the reader’s curiosity. As the conclusion, the connections between all the
suspense and the surprises in the novel are acceptable and plausible and create an
artistic unity that makes State of Fear very interesting to read. In addition, I think
Michael Crichton presents all the elements of plot in a balanced proportion,
without highlighting one element more than the others. Consequently, State of
Fear presents numerous moments of exciting suspense that is balanced with the
right number of unexpected surprises in the story, which results in a good artistic
unity and a continuously enjoyable story.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Texts
Crichton, Michael. State of Fear. New York: Avon Books, 2004. Print.
References
“About Michael Crichton”. Michael Crichton The Official Site. 2013. Web. 12
Feb. 2014.
Kirschling, Gregory. “State of Fear”. Entertainment Weekly. 797: 17 Dec. 2004. 5
Feb. 2014.
“Michael Crichton”. The Biography Channel. 2014. Web. 2 Mar. 2014.
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. Atlanta: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1974. Print.
“Q & A with Michael Crichton”. Michael Crichton The Official Site. 2013. Web.
10 Aug. 2014.
Smith, David. “King of techno-thriller.” theguardian. Dec 2006. Web. 12 Feb.
2014.
“Techno-thriller”. Oxford Dictionaries. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
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