Frayed Branches

The Bourne Supremacy : Chasing Your Shadow Not all thriller novels are created equal. For a long time, there has been an over-saturation of media that relies on secret agents and government conspiracies in order to tell their stories. What makes different characters such as Jack Ryan, Jack Reacher, and Jane Hawk are that each notable character has their own spin on the thriller protagonist archetype. But one of the more outstanding characters in all of thriller literature is Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne. In the first entry to Ludlum’s Bourne trilogy, the titular character was fished out of the Mediterranean Sea with no memory of his past life, including his name. Eventually, Bourne discovered his connection to conspiracy-like US-based operations, a whole story that I won’t spoil the ending to here. However, I do wish to warn readers of this blog now: In order to discuss the events of The Bourne Supremacy , there will be spoilers for the first novel in the series, The Bourne Identity . ...

Dead Poets Society : A Coming-of-Age Story There isn’t anything new about coming-of-age stories, many of which follow a similar structure as their predecessors and successors. In a chaste, oftentimes strict world, a character or set of characters is forced to undergo trials and tribulations in order to find themselves, oftentimes clashing with the world around them in order to discover and carve out a unique place in life. Depending on the execution, a film or other piece of media can succeed or fail in showcasing how one’s environment and the people around them can impact how one comes of age. One film that does this exceptionally well, however, is Paul Weir’s 1989 drama Dead Poets Society. The film follows a group of boys at an elite prep school. The two protagonists, the reclusive Todd Anderson and the more outgoing, often rebellious Neil Perry, act as contrasts to one another in order to reflect how life at the boarding school impacts both of them. While Todd is more adamant about ...