The 100 year Old Man Who Jumped Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson - Term Paper Example

Lecturer The psychological realism in "the 100 year Old Man who Jumped out of the Window and Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson Introduction The main issue in the book the 100 year old man who jumped out of the window and disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson, concerns a centenarian who climbs out of window and disappered, at the home of the elderly during his hundredth birthday, so as to have adventures. This story takes us through a very interesting journey of the life of this centenarian. The characters in this book are very interesting and also likeable; but later in the story the characters become more complex in their characters and behaviors. Allan Karlson, the main protagonists in this book, has the ability of blowing things out of proportion throughout his life’s journey, and he also prove to lack interst in political issues; these two unique characteristics that he possesses leads to conflicts in his life decisions. Psychological realism Physiological realism is also referred to as a psychological novel. It involves prose fiction work which puts more emphasis on inside characterization and also on the interior motives and circumstances which translates into external action. Psychological novel identifies what has happened; and also demonstrates the motive of the behavior or action. In this novel; the concept of character or characterization is more important; and investigates the mind of a character (Logan 80). In psychological realism literature; stream of consciousness, flash backs and interior monologue styles are used to effectively explain the inner working human (character) mind. In the 100 year old man who jumped out of the window and disappeared, the mind of our protagonist, Allan Karlsson, is studied and discussed. Famous Writers who use Psychological Realism The beginning of the psychological novel as a literary genre began sentimental literary books; Pamela, written by Samuel Richardson is a good example of a sentimental novel. The French literature The Red and the Black written by Stendhal is an early psychological novel; the work of Madame de La Fayette in The Princess of Cleves also illustrates 17th Century psychological novel. According to The Encyclopedia of the Novel, modern psychological novels started with the literary works of Knut Hamsun, a Nobel laureate; for example Hunger of 1890, Pan of 1894 and Mysteries of 1892. In the literatures of the United States of America; Henry James, Edith Wharton and Arthur Miller are seen as the major contributors to Psychological Realism. The author of the 100 year old man who jumped out of the window and disappeared, Jonas Jonasson, was born in 1962, Sweden. Apart from being an author, he has worked as a journalist and media consultant. The novel was published in the year 2009 and in Sweden; it was immediately translated, by Rod Bradbury, to English. The book was adapted into a film on 25th November 2010. Felix Herngren directed the film; and it was produced by Nice Entertainment and FLX Film. Robert Gustafsson played the role of the main protagonist Allan Karlsson (George 218). On 25th December 2013; the film participated in Swedish Premiere. The novel became the bestselling book, in Sweden in the year 2010, for advanced children. By the year 2013, three million copies of the book were sold worldwide. Psychological realism in the 100 year old man who jumped out of the window and disappeared In the novel, thoughts are at times retrospect or memories. This is because the novel is based on the mind or memories of the main character, instead of the daily journey; and it flashes both forward and backwards when describing an event. It’s indicated in the novel that when Allan Karlsson was a youth he participant in key explosions during the 20th century; an then in old age he was admitted in a retirement home where he stayed until he turned 100 years old. We are also informed on how the main protagonist met and shared meals with world leaders during his younger years; the leaders included Truman, Churchill and Stallin. The novelist also uses a lot of imagery in this novel; this imagery also makes the reader to have a perceptual experience of images mixing with sound or sight. A perfect imagery is observed when Allan escapes from the retirement home; he escaped when wearing slippers, through the window of his bedroom and lands on the flowerbed. The reader is clearly able to visualize this scene effectively. We can also perfectly visualize the birthday celebration and the party mood at the retirement home; and also the disappointments that the retirement home community will experience on finding out the Allan Karlson has expected during his birthday party (Baym, N. et al. 74). We can also see the character boarding a bus with a suitcase; and later being chased by the drug operation members and also the police. The astonishment on hois face is also visible when he sees that the suitcase is not filled with clothes but filled with drug money. In this literary material, the reader must move with the character’s consciousness. We can read the character’s mind and deduce that he is not comfortable with the retirement home and that he has for a long time wanted to escape, maybe he considered the retirement home environment very boring and that’ why he decided to escape so as to get some adventures. The adventures sure will remind him of his younger days. We can also realize that the main reason for boarding the bus with the suitcase was to initiate his adventure activities; and there is no doubt that he is excited because the incidence and chase drama is his making. The reader can also read the mind of the character; through deducing that the main reason why he escaped from the retirement home through the window is that the door entrance was filled with people who will notice his escape, his escape was therefore performed with a lot of secrecy. The reader of this novel also merges the past, the present and the future with sensory perception. This means that present events is described concurrently with the past and future events. We visualize Allan Karlson’s retirement home immediately he escapes; and our attention focuses on his past actions; there is a lot of flash backs which increases the literacy effect of the present (Roxborough). For example the reader knows that in younger years; Allan was responsible for leaking classified nuclear information, when drunk, to a Physicist from Soviet. We also understand that his militant nature is responsible for his secret escape from the retirement home and drama with the drug dealers and security officers. The author does not apply traditional story lines in this novel. This is because he uses concepts which involve the imagination of the writer a lot and combines the concept with comedy or humor. The story also does not involve activities which can easily take place in the real world. For example the reader can wonder how a 100 year old man can manage to escape for the retirement home through the window without being detected, and how he can effectively escape from both the drug criminals and the police who are young and energetic. The scene were Allan, together with his crew `concoct, swearing literally over bibles makes the reader to simply imagine ad decide whether it’s ironical or simply irrelevant. The story also applies fictitious events with real events or historical events which truly happened. It is common knowledge that many law enforcement officers are incompetent; and hence fail in providing security services effectively; but it is fictitious that the 100 year old man escaped with a bag full of drug money. The author applies the use of a lot of dramatic action in making the novel interesting, action packed and humorous. For example Allan becomes tired and impatient of living the home of the elderly and therefore escapes, during his centennial birthday celebration, through the window in slippers (Ziaul 37). Thereafter he steals a bag full with money from the drug criminals; and he immediately escapes from the security officers and the drug criminals. The reader also learns that Allan met several influential leaders like Truman, Mao, Stalin, Churchill and Franco; and that he also majorly participated in two global conflicts; the Cold War and the Spanish Civil War. Allan is also an explosive expert; he has adequate militant expertise because as a boy he was capable of using munitions. Conclusion In the story, the 100 year old man who jumped out of the window and disappeared, their many other characters who have not been mentioned extensively in this discussion paper. There is the character called Julius, who is of very questionable morality. There is also a character called Benny who has a curious and unique background story that made him almost a doctor; almost an architect, almost a botanist, almost a veterinary officer, and this are just few examples. These two characters and Allan escape from thugs who lack adequate intelligence, incompetent police officers and Alice, the unpleasant and authoritative retirement home director. Works Cited Baym, N. et al. Eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Seventh Edition, New York: W.W. Norton Co. 2008, p. 1697 George M. Johnson. Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, U.K., 2006. Logan, Peter, et al., eds. "Northern Europe" The Encyclopedia of the Novel, A–Li. Blackwell Publishing, 2002. Print. Roxborough, Scott. "Swedish 100 Year Old Man Gets $1.6 Million in Financing". The Hollywood Reporter, 2012. Ziaul Haque. "Translating Literary Prose: Problems and Solutions" International Journal of English Linguistics. vol. 2, no. 6; 2012, Read More