Philip Reeve creates an effective character with Shrike by making more than one side to his character. For example, one side of Shrike has an evil, heartless and terrifying side to him that people fear. However, he also has a very sensitive side to him who cares for Hester and wants to kill her and turn her into a Stalker. He does this because he has a deal with Magnus Crome that when he brings Hester Shaw’s body to him, Crome will turn her into a Stalker so that he can marry him. In the story, when Stalker’s are made they have all their feelings taken away from them so that they will be more effective. Shrike’s feelings are shown when Shrike finds Hester and Tom and says ‘YOUR FLESH WILL BE REPLACED WITH STEEL, YOUR NERVES WITH WIRE, YOUR THOUGHTS WITH ELECTRICITY, YOU WILL BE BEAUTIFUL! YOU WILL BE MY COMPANION FOR ALL TIME.‘ This quote also shows that he has a deep admiration for her. In this quote, Shrike shows his feelings to Hester and tells her of his hearts desire. This shows that he cares for her and wants her to join him and be with him forever.
‘TAKE ME CLOSER,” he orders. “If you can see them so clearly now,” the airship’s pilot grumbles, “it’s a pity you couldn’t tell that bloomin’ balloon was empty before we went chasing it across half the Hunting Ground. “Shrike say nothing. Why should he explain himself to this whining Once-born? He had seen that the balloon was empty as soon as it popped back up above the clouds, but he had decided to keep it to himself. He was pleased at Hester Shaw’s quick thinking, and he decided to let her live a few more hours as a reward, while this slow-witted Engineer-aviator pursued her empty balloon. He flicks his eyes back to their normal setting. He will hunt Hester Shaw the hard way, with scent and sound and ordinary vision.’
The quote above shows that Shrike feels as if he is superior to humans and he feels that they are a ‘whining Once-born’. Hester and Tom had escaped Shrike by jumping out of an air-balloon. They do this so that the air-ship following them will go after the air-balloon and think that they are still inside it while Tom and Hester are walking across the Out-Country and are trying to escape away from Shrike. However, in this quote it is revealed that Shrike is aware of their cunning tactics but he lets Hester continue on because he wants her to live for a few more hours. This shows that he has feelings for her because he doesn’t want her to die. Shrike also begins to hunt her the hard way. He does this by only using scent, sound and vision. He therefore doesn’t use his heat-sensor vision because that allows him to see a person’s heat signals rather than actually physically seeing them.
Even though Shrike has a good side to him, he also has a bad side. His bad side is demonstrated in the following quote: ‘ “It’s impossible!” Tom whimpered. ” There aren’t any Stalkers! They were all destroyed centuries ago!” ‘ This quote shows that people are scared of Shrike because he is a Stalker. A Stalker is a metal machine that has a human brain and was made for the Sixty Minute War. The Sixty Minute War is a battle that was fought by the ancient people but it lasted only sixty minutes. The weapons and machinery they used were so powerful that they obliterated the opponent very quickly and with ease. This is why it lasted only a short amount of time. However, Stalkers went extinct a few years after the war and there were only a handful of them left. Stalkers were used to control people and in Tom and Hester’s time, they were used as bounty hunters. Therefore, Stalkers like Shrike were feared everywhere, especially in the Out-Country as there were many prisoners that would run away on foot across it.
‘The Stalker swung its dead-white face from Tom to Hester, lenses whirring inside mechanical eyes. “HESTER SHAW,” it said, caressing her name with its gas-leak hiss of a voice.’ This quotes shows that Shrike had a very metallic body and he had a voice that sounded like a ‘gas-leak hiss’. This scared people because his voice was like the noise made by strangling cats. It was very terrifying and it was very monster-like. Philip Reeve makes his voice sound very robot-like and he also describes it well.
‘Then he reached Maggs and she made a choking sound and went backwards into the bracken and down.’ This quotation shows that Shrike may have a nicer side to him but he also has a very bad side too. Shrike killed the pirates viciously and mercilessly as if he has no control over himself. He was programmed to kill and obey orders when he was made. He was made with no feelings. It’s as if he had two people inside of him. One is good and other is bad. It’s as if they are fighting for control of his metal body. Shrike will do anything when he sets his mind to something. The quote shows Shrike’s chasing and killing the pirates. This quotation was from Chapter 22 where there is a lot of short sentences that make it a more fast-paced scene and makes it more exciting. Reeve shows that Shrike kills them with ease and the speed of the chapter makes it more exciting.
In my opinion, Shrike was an effective character because he is very cunning and the way he was described, it paints a picture in your mind of a killing machine that will stop at nothing. Philip Reeve used good describing words that describe Shrike and he uses them the right way in order to give you a clear picture of what he Shrike is like. He also uses other characters’ response about Shrike to tell you what he’s like and to give you an image of what other people think of him.
By Ramin Wahid 8W2S Mr. Murray English
‘This is Novel’ Badge
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