Shadows in the Mirror – English Essay

Draft
The novel, Shadows in the Mirror, by Cameron Nunn, examines the theme
Justice. Justice is defined as – the quality of being just; righteousness,
equitableness or moral rightness. This is portrayed in the novel by using four
different techniques: crime detective genre, mise en abyme, characterisation
and language. Through these techniques, the author demonstrates the reality of
justice and Injustice at Hamilton College.

A feature that Cameron Nunn has used to display justice through the crime
detective genre is red-herrings. An example of where red herrings are used is on
page 104~105 – “Thomas Dyson...twice he had been suspended for
fighting and ...a number of times had received the ‘strap’” The effect red
herring’s has on the technique is that David and Simon suspect Thomas Dyson to
be Tommy who killed Pieter Lehr. This adds to the tension because it makes the
reader believe that the case is solved by using red-herrings. As a result, justice
must be. Each of these examples play an important role in solving obtaining
Justice. Justice cannot be served if you have red-herrings which put you off track.

Another feature that Cameron Nunn has used to show justice, through the use of
the mystery detective genre, is suspects. An example where it shows this feature
is on page 103 – “Thomas Dyson, a large muscular boy with a foolish
grin. It was easy to imagine him as the thug who tormented the juniors.
‘It’s got to be him.’” The effect of the technique is that David and Simon
suspect Thomas Dyson to be the bully of the school. This adds tension to the
reader by revealing the suspects and questioning if it could be them or not. As a
result, the boys go to Thomas Dyson’s house believing that he is the one who
killed Pieter Lehr. They soon find out that he is innocent. People should not judge
others without having all the evidence because the wrong people might get
punished.

One of the features that show Justice through the crime detective genre is
detectives. A quote used to show this is on page 91 “..Coroner confirmed that
he had died of asthma but there were also bruises as if he’d been
beaten.” The effect this has on the reader is; it shows the seriousness of looking
into a death at school and the effect it has on the people around and looking into
the matter. The issue needs to be brought to attention so that the family
members of Pieter Lehr’s family know what happened to their son/brother.

The last feature that shows justice through the technique crime detective genre
is clues. A source where it shows this feature is on page 56 – “It’s an archive
box…we keep many of the schools original photos and school
documents here in the library.” The effect of this technique is that every clue
brings the detectives closer to the truth which shows that the archive box is a
crucial piece of evidence that can help solve the mystery of Pieter Lehr’s death.
Gathering and discovering many clues help the detectives solve the mystery and
prove the case.

The use of first person narration is one of the features used to show the
technique of language. An example of this feature is on page 151 “It wasn’t
bad luck; he did it on purpose...” I Knew that would tell the others and
Simon would cop it...I didn’t care.” The effect that this has on the novel is
that it depicts that in first person, we are positioned to believe David, and be
angry at Simon. David finds out that Simon didn’t throw the game on purpose
but actually tried his best, when he discovers that Mr. Gleeson was the person
who overthrew the game David got furious. Only hearing one side of the story
can lead to injustice. Simon did not purposely lose the match. Mr Gleeson lied
about the try, as a result we believe the lie unjustly.