2.6.17
«Don Quixote» - Infographic & Plot Summary
Part 1
Alonso Quixano's obsession with chivalric romance stories turns into insanity when he gives up his idle days and takes on the persona of a knight-errant named Don Quixote. Armed with shabby armor and a homemade helmet, he and his elderly horse, Rocinante, set off for adventure in the Spanish countryside. He dedicates his career as a knight to a local woman he refers to as Dulcinea del Toboso, despite the fact that he has never spoken to her.
Don Quixote's first excursion is brief. He stays at an inn he believes is a castle, then he returns home to gather supplies and acquire a squire. When he returns to the saddle for his second adventure, he is accompanied by Sancho Panza, a local peasant farmer. Sancho Panza, not the brightest guy in town, doesn't realize that his new master is insane. Blinded by greed and the promise of a governorship for his service, he manages to overlook nearly every odd thing Don Quixote does, including mistaking windmills for giants.
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza meet a number of interesting people on their journey, battle unsuspecting foes, and startle nearly everyone with the knight-errant's obvious insanity. At one point, Don Quixote aids the escape of a group of prisoners headed to the galleys. He and Sancho Panza hide from the police in the mountains where they meet a crazed young man named Cardenio.
Cardenio's introduction sets off a chain of new characters with stories about star-crossed lovers. Don Quixote decides that the best way to show his love for Dulcinea is to perform acts of madness. He sends Sancho Panza to Toboso with a message for Dulcinea, but he is intercepted by Pero Perez and Master Nicolas, a priest and barber from Don Quixote's hometown. Worried about their friend, they devise a scheme to bring Don Quixote home and cure him of his madness. This plan involves a fake princess, an imaginary giant, and several stories-within-the-story about honor, virtue, and love.
Don Quixote is finally delivered to his home via ox cart. He is worn out but still convinced he is one of the greatest knights to ever have lived.
Part 2
A month of rest does nothing to disabuse Don Quixote of his desire to right the wrongs of the world, and he and Sancho Panza pack their saddlebags for another adventure. They begin in Toboso, where Sancho Panza fools Don Quixote into thinking that an ugly peasant girl is his beloved Dulcinea del Toboso under enchantment.
Now on a quest to free his ladylove, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza meet a rival knight, the Knight of the Mirrors, who says that he has already vanquished Don Quixote. They agree to duel, and Don Quixote wins. The Knight of the Mirrors turns out to be Samson Carrasco, a college graduate who had previously told Don Quixote and Sancho Panza about the publication of their adventures by a Moorish author. Samson Carrasco was working with Pero Perez and Master Nicolas to bring Don Quixote home again, but his plan failed.
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza learn more about love at a wedding and then take a trip to Montesinos's Cave, named after a legendary knight of yore. While in the cave, Don Quixote has visions of Montesinos and other famous knights, as well as of his Dulcinea. Sancho Panza isn't sure whether he should believe his master or not, and an encounter with a prophetic monkey only affirms each of their positions.
Master and squire run into a Duke and Duchess who are completely enamored with the published stories about the lunatic knight. They invite Sancho Panza and Don Quixote to their castle, where they play endless, mean-spirited pranks on the trusting squire and his crazy master. The Duke promises Sancho Panza a governorship, and he is soon sent to Barataria Island where it turns out he's actually a very just and wise ruler. Don Quixote, meanwhile, grows weary of idle life in the castle. When Sancho Panza gives up his position after just ten days, they are both eager to get back to the life of a knight-errant and his servant.
They end up in Barcelona where the Knight of the White Moon challenges Don Quixote. If Don Quixote wins, he can kill the other knight. If he loses, he must retire from knight-errantry for a year. He is beaten soundly, and the other knight turns out to be Samson Carrasco once more.
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza start off for home. Along the way, Don Quixote decides that he should become a shepherd and adopt the lifestyle found in pastoral romances. They are almost home when they hear about a second text written about their exploits, but this particular book wasn't written by the original author. They find fault with nearly everything written and declare it untrue.
Don Quixote falls ill once they are back at home. When his fever finally breaks, he vehemently renounces knight-errantry and chivalric romance stories, mourning the good, wholesome books he never got a chance to read. He abandons the name Don Quixote and goes back to being Alonso Quixano once more. He dies the next day.
Don Quixote Plot Diagram
31.5.17
«The Time Machine» - Infographic & Plot Summary
The Time Machine tells the story of man who claims to travel through time and the group of gentlemen friends who do not believe him. It opens on a Thursday evening dinner party at the Time Traveller's house in the London suburb of Richmond. The men meet every Thursday for dinner. The period is the late 19th century.
The Time Machine
After dinner, the Time Traveller theorizes that time is simply a fourth dimension of space. Just as people can move around in space with the help of balloons to go up, so, he claims, they can move around in time. He takes his guests to his laboratory where he shows them an object made of crystal, ivory, and brass. He says it is a time machine. It has a saddle and two levers, one to go forward and one to go back through time.
The next Thursday when the group reconvenes at the house, the Time Traveller is not there. He has left a note saying he is out. Because it is already 7:30 p.m., they sit down to dinner. Suddenly, the Time Traveller appears, pale, dirty, and bleeding. He claims to have been traveling through time. In the semidarkness after dinner, he tells the following tale about what happened:
At 10 o'clock that morning, he set out in the time machine. As he pressed the future lever, he flew through time, watching day and night rapidly switch places. He was scared, and the motion was unsettling. He did not know where he would end up. Finally, he crashed on a little lawn. He could tell from dials that the year was 802,701. Nearby on a bronze pedestal stood the white marble statue of a sphinx.
The Eloi
He also notices a huge, magnificent building. A group of figures come out to meet him. They are called Eloi, and are about four feet high with curly hair, red lips, and large, liquid eyes. They wear soft, silky robes and act like children.
The Eloi take him to their building, where he dines on fruit. The building is grand but also neglected and dirty. The following day, he sees that all the Eloi do is play. One of their favorite pastimes is swimming. When one begins to drown, he leaps in and rescues her. He finds out that her name is Weena, and she becomes devoted to him.
The Morlocks
Exploring the countryside, he comes across a large, circular well. There is a kind of ladder down its side. He cannot see into it, but he hears a deep humming. He guesses it is a ventilation shaft for some sort of underground facility. At night, he sees what he thinks is a ghost or a white monkey.
The next morning, he finds his time machine has disappeared. Following marks on the ground, he deduces that it is inside the hollow pedestal of the sphinx statue. He tries to break in but fails. He decides to investigate the well, wondering whether the creatures living down there might have taken his machine.
Descending the ladder, he comes to a tunnel where he is set upon by strange, human-like creatures called Morlocks. Because they live in darkness they are all white, with grayish-red eyes. He looks into a large chamber where some are eating red meat and realizes, to his horror, that it is a joint from one of the Eloi.
He manages to escape up the ladder. Reflecting on what he had seen, he theorizes that over time humankind developed into two separate species: Capitalists and Laborers. The rich, educated people became the Eloi—kind and innocent, but weak. The workers who built subways and railroads became the Morlocks, hanging on to a sense of initiative that made them superior to the Eloi.
(Here, the Time Traveller pauses to take two white flowers from his pocket. The reader and the dinner guests are meant to believe they are from the future.)
The Time Traveller sees a large building some miles away that he calls the Palace of Green Porcelain. He sets off for it with Weena. At night, they are attacked by Morlocks when they camp. The Time Traveller lights matches to drive them away.
The Palace turns out to be an abandoned natural history museum. The Time Traveller finds more matches, and an iron bar he uses as a club. On their way back, he and Weena are attacked again after dark. He lights a fire that keeps the Morlocks away until he falls asleep. He wakes up to find Weena gone and the Morlocks snatching at him. The fire spreads to a nearby forest. It drives the Morlocks away, but Weena is dead.
Return to the Present
Back at the sphinx, the Time Traveller finds a portal to the pedestal open. Morlocks are waiting for him, but he manages to leap into the machine and lift off. Speeding into the future, he lands three million years ahead on a deserted beach. Two monster crabs come for him, and he flees further into the future where there is only a strange octopus-like creature thrashing in the waves. He sets the machine to return to the present.
When the Time Traveller finishes his tale, he is met with skepticism, although a scientist present admits he cannot identify the flowers. The Narrator keeps an open mind. Returning to the house the next day, he finds the Time Traveller with a camera and knapsack setting off again. The Narrator observes the machine disappear in a blur. Reporting that the Time Traveller has not been seen since, he retains the two white flowers.
The Time Machine Plot Diagram
29.5.17
«Crime and Punishment» - Infographic & Plot Summary
Part 1
The setting is Russia in the 1860s. During a hot July in Saint Petersburg, Raskolnikov, an impoverished student, plans a crime. In preparation he visits Alyona, a greedy pawnbroker, and memorizes where she keeps her money. Later he meets Marmeladov, a former clerk, and his impoverished family. Marmeladov's alcoholism has forced his oldest daughter, Sonia, into prostitution to support them.
The next day Raskolnikov reads a letter from his mother, Pulcheria. His sister, Dounia, has survived a near scandal after refusing the advances of her employer, Svidrigaïlov. Dounia plans to marry Luzhin, a rich lawyer, to help her family. Pulcheria and Dounia will visit Raskolnikov soon.
Raskolnikov tries to help a drunken girl in the street. Later he becomes ill and dreams about a man beating his horse to death. Raskolnikov wavers about robbing and killing Alyona. He decides to do it when he discovers by chance that she will be home alone. A flashback reveals how Raskolnikov overheard a student talking about how Alyona's death would benefit others, confirming Raskolnikov's feelings. Raskolnikov kills the pawnbroker with an axe and robs her, then kills Alyona's half-sister, Lizaveta, who appears unexpectedly. He gets lucky and escapes without being seen.
Part 2
The police summon Raskolnikov for unpaid debts. He arouses suspicion by fainting as the police discuss the murders. He finds a distant hiding place for his loot. Deeply alienated, he becomes deliriously ill for days. Raskolnikov recuperates, as his friend Razumihin and a doctor, Zossimov, care for him. They notice his fascination with the murders.
Luzhin visits Raskolnikov, who threatens him about Dounia. Raskolnikov wants to get caught, but he does not want to confess. He drops hints about the murders to Zametov, a police clerk, and returns to Alyona's apartment to do the same with some workers there. No one believes him. A carriage runs over Marmeladov. He dies in Sonia's arms, a probable suicide. Raskolnikov gives money to his widow, Katerina Ivanovna, and he no longer feels the urge to confess.
Part 3
Dounia and Pulcheria visit Raskolnikov, who forbids Dounia to marry Luzhin. Dounia and Pulcheria worry about Raskolnikov's erratic behavior. They meet Razumihin, who falls for Dounia. Raskolnikov's guilt continues to torture him. Sonia visits Raskolnikov to thank him for the money he gave her family. Raskolnikov introduces her to his family.
To allay suspicion, Raskolnikov meets with Porfiry, a police investigator, to report that he pawned items with Alyona. Porfiry mentions an article Raskolnikov wrote about how "extraordinary men" are allowed to transgress moral boundaries without punishment. On his way home, a stranger calls Raskolnikov a murderer, terrifying him.
Part 4
Svidrigaïlov visits Raskolnikov. He wants to give Dounia money as an apology, but Raskolnikov is suspicious. Svidrigaïlov describes his depraved past and troubled marriage. He reveals that his recently deceased wife has left Dounia money.
Raskolnikov and his family uncover a lie about Raskolnikov and Sonia that Luzhin wrote in a letter to Dounia. Dounia breaks her engagement. Haunted by his crime, Raskolnikov breaks with his family, leaving them in Razumihin's care. Raskolnikov visits Sonia, believing she understands him. She reads to him about Lazarus. He discovers that Sonia knew Lizaveta.
The next morning Raskolnikov visits Porfiry. Suddenly another man confesses to the murders. Later Raskolnikov again meets the man who called him a murderer. The man apologizes, saying he jumped to conclusions.
Part 5
Luzhin plots revenge against Raskolnikov, planting money on Sonia to make her look like a thief. When he tries to entrap her at Marmeladov's funeral dinner, Lebeziatnikov, a neighbor, says he saw Luzhin plant the money.
Raskolnikov finally confesses his crime to Sonia. She is shocked but treats him compassionately. She encourages him to kiss the ground, confess, and be redeemed.
The Marmeladovs are evicted and become homeless. Katerina Ivanovna loses her mind, then dies of tuberculosis. Svidrigaïlov offers to help her children financially. He tells Raskolnikov that he has overheard his confession to Sonia.
Part 6
Porfiry tells Raskolnikov he knows he is the murderer but cannot prove it. He gives him two days to confess before arresting him.
Raskolnikov meets Svidrigaïlov, whose stories reveal he is a sexual predator. He has a new young fiancée, so he claims no interest in Dounia, but Raskolnikov is skeptical.
Svidrigaïlov lures Dounia to his apartment and locks her in. He uses Raskolnikov's crime to sexually blackmail her, then threatens to rape her. Dounia tries to shoot him, but her gun misfires. Svidrigaïlov asks if Dounia can love him, and she says no. He lets her go but keeps the gun.
Svidrigaïlov gives money to Sonia's family and to his fiancée. He checks into a hotel. He cannot eat and has terrible dreams. The next morning he shoots himself.
The next day Raskolnikov says goodbye to his family. Sonia gives him her cross, and then he leaves for the police. On the way he bows down and kisses the ground ecstatically. He sees that Sonia has followed him. At the station he learns of Svidrigaïlov's death. Shocked, he decides not to confess. However, as he leaves, he sees Sonia waiting. He returns to the police and makes his confession.
Epilogue, Chapters 1–2
Nine months later Raskolnikov goes to prison in Siberia for eight years. Sonia follows him. He still refuses to admit that what he did was a crime and remains alienated. Sonia perseveres, visiting him regularly. After a serious illness, he realizes he loves Sonia and is reborn into a new life.
Crime and Punishment Plot Diagram
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