Jyoti
ENC 1102
Professor Myers
Research paper.
2779
8/21/2008
Laroche has Borderline Personality Disorder
Laroche is an orchid poacher in Susan Orlean’s book The Orchid Thief. He is also portrayed in Jonze’s movie Adaptation, which contains the screenplay of the Orlean’s book The Orchid Thief. Laroche exhibits several symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD). According to DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association 2000), BPD is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. BPD is diagnosed in a person who exhibits five (or more) of the following symptoms. Firstly, this person shows frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Secondly, this person exhibits a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation. Thirdly, this person displays identity disturbance portrayed by markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. Fourthly, this person is impulsive in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating. Fifthly, recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior manifests in this person. Sixthly, this person has affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days. Seventhly, this person experiences chronic feelings of emptiness. Eighthly, this person has an inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, and recurrent physical fights. Ninthly, this person has a transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms. It is important to recognize BPD as it occurs in 1%–1.5% of the general population (Torgersen 2005). Although it has been shown to be more common among women than men in clinical settings (Morey), this difference may be largely the result of sampling bias (i.e., more women seek treatment), because no gender difference in prevalence has been found in community-based studies (Torgersen et al. 2001). Approximately 11% of psychiatric outpatients and 19% of inpatients met the criteria for BPD (Clarkin). Approximately 70-75% of patients with BPD have a history of at least one deliberate act of self-harm. The mean estimated rate of completed suicides is 9% in people with BPD (Linehan). Morbidity in the BPD population includes failure in social relationships, developmental delay, and occupational impairment. Health care costs in patients with borderline pathology are enormous, and treatment dropout rates are extraordinarily high. Therefore, it is imperative that health care professionals, including nurses recognize and treat BPD to help their patients and to reduce morbidity and mortality from this disease. Laroche exhibits a pattern of splitting, which is idealizing and devaluing objects on several occasions. He has an unstable self-image. He is impulsive in areas regarding sex, substance abuse, and reckless driving. Laroche has intense mood changes. He is chronically feeling lonely, displays inappropriate temper and he shows transient paranoid ideation. Hence, Laroche has borderline personality disorder.
One of the signs of BPD exhibited by Laroche is splitting that is, idealization and devaluing or having a love and hate relationship. This is evident when Orlean describes Laroche as eccentric based on his extreme passion and abandonment of various objects like turtles, Ice Age fossils, orchids, and fish. (3-4). In Adaptation, Laroche admits to the phase of extreme passion for one of the object, fish, when he quotes “I once feel deeply, you know, profoundly in love with tropical fish. Had 60 goddamn fish tanks in my house. I skin dived to find just the right ones. Anisotremus virginicus, Holdacanthus ciliaris, Chaetodon capistratus. You name it. Then one morning, I woke up and said, ‘Fuck fish.’ I renounce fish, I will never set foot in that ocean again. And there hasn't been a time where I have stuck so much as a toe back in that ocean” (Jonze). Laroche exhibits this model of idealization and devaluation not only with fish, but also with turtles, Ice Age fossils, orchids, mirrors, and photography. This proves that Laroche exhibits a pattern of unstable and intense relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation thereby meeting this criterion of BPD. The cycles of attachment and detachment with various objects like, turtles, Ice Age fossils, orchids, and fish, could incorrectly characterize Laroche with Bipolar disorder. One of manic or mixed (manic-depressive) episodes, usually accompanied by major depressive episodes, characterizes bipolar I Disorder. Bipolar II disorder exhibits one or more major depressive episodes accompanied by at least one hypomanic episode (Paris). Laroche does not exhibit any major depressive episodes. Hence, both Bipolar I and II disorders do not apply to his diagnosis. The cycles of extreme attachment and abandonment exhibited by Laroche are characteristics of splitting or a love and hate relationship with objects, and hence dispose him towards BPD.
Along with splitting, another symptom required for BPD diagnosis exhibited by Laroche includes identity disturbance, portrayed by markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. In the book, The Orchid Thief, Laroche describes himself to the judge presiding over his trial as “Frankly, Your Honor, I’m probably the smartest person I know” (Orlean 8). This vividly describes Laroche’s eccentricity and inflated self-esteem. Not only does Laroche thinks that he is the smartest person, his self-image is divine. He admits that every time he made a new hybrid by cross-pollinating orchids, he felt like God (Orlean 17). In contrast, Laroche describes that as a child he was a weird little kid and nobody liked me (3). This displays vacillations in Laroche’s self-image and he thereby meets identity disturbance requirement of BPD.
Along with unstable self-image, Laroche displays impulsive and reckless behavior without regard for consequences, another sign required for BPD. He displays this behavior while driving, smoking, and doing drugs. Laroche drives recklessly as portrayed in the quote " He crushed out his cigarette and steered with his knee while he lit another” (Orlean 15). In the movie, Laroche is asleep at the wheel while driving (Jonze). This implies Laroche has no concern for his own safety and the safety of others. Laroche scowls and smokes furiously in the movie showing his disregard for various proven ailments caused by smoking (Jonze). Not only does Laroche smoke, he is involved in illegally using and trafficking drugs as admitted by him in the movie “The cool part is, if the government doesn't know the drug exists, it ain't controlled. A Laroche kind of plan, if I do say” (Jonze). Thus by showing his impulsivity with substance abuse, reckless driving and smoking, Laroche meets the impulsive behavior criteria for BPD.
Another BPD symptom, in addition to impulsivity, exhibited by Laroche is affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety. Laroche’s irritability is palpable when he is guiding Orlean in the search for the ghost orchid in Adaptation and is clearly lost. He starts in one direction, stops, and then goes in another direction. He scowls at Orlean when she requests permission to ask a personal question, “Look, we're not lost” (Jonze). This displays his denial of truth and thereby portrays his behavior as disturbed. Even when he was knowingly stealing orchids, he presumes his innocence. His dysphoria is prominent when he quotes after being caught red handed “They're gonna fucking crucify me” (Jonze). When punished for his crime, Laroche maintains his self-righteousness and demonstrates his irritability by stating, “I'm right, and I'll take this all the way to the Supreme Court. That judge can screw herself “(Jonze). Laroche’s irritability and anxiety exemplifies when instead of blaming himself for reckless driving he blames others by quoting “Where do these people learn to drive? The world is insane” (Jonze). This displays that Laroche behavior is unstable, easily irritable, and anxious. This adds to the list that qualifies him for borderline personality disorder.
In addition to affective instability, Laroche exhibits intense anger, another sign of BPD. On being caught poaching, his irritability is intense in the movie and he repeatedly pounds the steering wheel while yelling, “I can't believe I'm dealing with this! Like I could give a damn. If they fire me, I'll sue. I already did some legal research on this. They can't fire me. And I ain't going to quit” (Jonze). This displays Laroche’s intense anger and wrath. His anger exhibits in his foul language used chronically by him. His chronic frustration seems to arise from his unrealistic expectations as displayed in the movie “Yeah, yeah. The thing you gotta know is my whole life is looking for a goddamn profitable plant. And that's the ghost” (Jonze). Thus by pursuing the impossible, Laroche frustrates himself and is intensely angry with others and with him. His illogical thinking fuels his anger. This is evident in his quote, “I've done this a million times. Whenever everything's killing me, I just say to myself, screw it, and go straight ahead” (Jonze). Thus by showing marked irritability Laroche meets the criteria of intense anger for BPD.
Along with temper, Laroche displays chronic emptiness, another sign required for BPD. Laroche’s loneliness began from his early childhood, starting from when he was a weird kid and nobody liked him (Orlean 3). His loneliness is exemplified in the movie in his quote “ I had this idea if I waited long enough, someone would come around and just, y'know, understand me” (Jonze). Laroche tries to disown his loneliness by attributing it to others in his quote “I believe some folks were really spending time with me because they were lonely” (Jonze). This describes that he feels empty and it is too painful for him to admit it. Laroche’s chronic emptiness qualifies him for BPD.
In addition to chronically feeling empty, Laroche exhibits paranoid ideation, another symptom of BPD. When Laroche is caught red handed while stealing orchids, he asserts, “You know, I feel like I've been screwed. I've been fucking crucified" (Orlean 12). This exemplifies his paranoia. Laroche has an illogical plan for handling his fears. While he is lost in a Florida swamp, he quotes, “I've done this a million times. Whenever everything's killing me, I just say to myself, screw it, and go straight ahead” (Jonze). This displays Laroche’s illogical fear and suspicion towards the whole world and qualifies him for BPD. His paranoia mistakenly attributes to paranoid personality disorder. However, Laroche displays this paranoia only when he is stressed out e.g. when he is caught committing a crime or when he is lost in the woods. Thus, Laroche’s transient paranoid ideation disposes him towards BPD.
Laroche’s behavior misdiagnoses as other personality disorders different from BPD. Although attention seeking, manipulative behavior, and rapidly shifting emotions can also characterize histrionic personality disorder, Laroche’s behavior clearly exemplifies BPD by his self-destructiveness, angry disruptions in close relationships, and chronic feelings of deep emptiness and loneliness. His paranoid ideas or illusions are transient, interpersonally reactive, and responsive to external structuring and hence more indicative of borderline personality disorder than of schizotypal personality disorder, where paranoia and delusions are more permanent. Although paranoid personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder characterizes an angry reaction to minor stimuli, Laroche's instability of self-image as well as the pursuit of self-destructiveness and impulsivity predisposes him towards BPD. Although antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder characterize manipulative behavior, Laroche's behavior is not solely for gaining profit, power, or some other material gratification. He also has a moral aspect in his amoral schemes and hence he aligns himself with BPD (Orlean 6).
In conclusion, Laroche, as described in the book The Orchid Thief and the movie Adaptation, exhibits several signs and symptoms of borderline personality disorder. He idealizes and devalues objects or he displays splitting. He displays an inflated self-esteem and grandiosity. His impulsivity involves him in pleasurable activities that have a high potential for painful consequences e.g. poaching orchids, smoking, abusing drugs, and reckless driving. He shows affective instability, chronic emptiness, intense anger and transient paranoid ideation. Overall, Laroche meets seven out of the nine requirements for BPD as stated in DSM-IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association 2000) and hence has borderline personality disorder. Timely diagnosis and treatment of BPD is important. Untreated BPD is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality, and treatment differs from that of other psychiatric disorders. Various specialists are available in Jacksonville, Florida to treat adults with the therapies for borderline personality disorder. Consult the specialists at the Gillespy Consulting at (904) 642-2468 or Birkmire Behavioral Healthcare Jacksonville, Inc. at (904) 262-0303 for the treatment of BPD.
Works Cited
Adaptation. Dir. Spike Jonze. Perf. Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper. 2002. DVD. Sony Pictures, 2003.
American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2000.
Clarkin, J, et al. “Prototypic typology and the borderline personality disorder.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 92.3 (Aug 1983): 263-75. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
Linehan, M, et al. "Two-year randomized controlled trial and follow-up of dialectical behavior therapy vs. therapy by experts for suicidal behaviors and borderline personality disorder." Archives of General Psychiatry 63 (2006): 757–766. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
Morey, Leslie, et al. “Gender”. Textbook of Personality Disorders. Ed. John Oldham. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2005. 541–559.
Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random, 1998.
Paris, Joel.” Borderline or Bipolar? Distinguishing Borderline Personality Disorder from Bipolar Spectrum Disorders." Harvard Review of Psychiatry 12.3 (May/Jun 2004): 140-144. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
Russell, Jennifer J, et al. "Stability and variability of affective experience and interpersonal behavior in borderline personality disorder". Journal of Abnormal Psychology 116.3 (Aug 2007): 578-588. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
Torgersen, Svenn. “Epidemiology”. Textbook of Personality Disorders. Ed. John Oldham. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, 2005. 129-141.
Torgersen, Svenn, et al. "The prevalence of personality disorders in a community sample." Archives of General Psychiatry 58 (2001): 590–596. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
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disorder: your friendly, authoritative guide to the latest in traditional and complementary solutions. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007.
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good thing?" Emotion 8.1 (Feb 2008): 23-33. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
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“Trauma Exposure and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Psychosis: Findings From a First-Admission Cohort”. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 70.1 (2002): 246–251. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
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offenders accepting a treatment-sentencing option". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 75.5 (Oct 2007): 795-804. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
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alcohol abusers' and collaterals' reports of alcohol and other substance abuse". Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 22.1 (Mar 2008): 78-87. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
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Moeller. “Impulsivity: a link between bipolar disorder and substance abuse”. Bipolar Disorders 6 (2004): 204–212. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
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Among Psychiatric Outpatients: Relationship to Substance Use, Diagnosis, and Illness Severity”. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 17.4 (2003): 259–265. PsycArticles. EBSCO. Florida Community College of Jacksonville Lib., Jacksonville. 24 Jun 2008 < http://web.ebscohost.com>.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Synthesis of The Orchid Thief and Adaptation
Jyoti
ENC 1102
Professor Myers
Thematic Synthesis
1539
7/31/2008
Synthesis of The Orchid Thief and Adaptation
The Orchid Thief, a literary nonfiction book by Susan Orlean, is about John Laroche, the person accused of stealing orchids from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve in Florida (6). Adaptation, a movie directed by Spike Jonze, is about a lovelorn screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, who turns to his less talented twin brother, Donald Kaufman, for help when his efforts to adapt The Orchid Thief into a movie are fruitless. The book's theme is people being transformed pursuing a passion. Similarly, the movie has a theme of people passionate about accurately representing the book into a screenplay and experiencing change. This theme of people's transformation by their passion appears in both the book and the movie using three nonfiction forms, namely, a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch.
In the book, a sense of place, a literary nonfiction form depicts Florida, which provides Laroche with his object of passion, orchids, and by pursuing orchids, Laroche transforms himself. A sense of place paints a verbal pictorial (Minot 9). This is vividly apparent when Orlean portrays Naples, the place of Laroche’s trial in Florida, as “warm and gummy” (7). This describes Florida’s warmth and humidity. The humid and sultry Florida provide abundance of orchids enabling Laroche to pursuit them with passion. Orlean continues to paint the verbal pictorial while adding that the wild and the tame part of Florida are “always in flux” (9). As the Everglades dries up, new buildings and highways sprung up. However, the cleared land is very fertile, and on it, vegetation grows up rapidly and the flux continues (Orlean 9). This flux enables orchids to be illusive and not easily within reach and only, the people with ardor to spend time and energy in pursuit attain discovery. Similar to the book, a sense of place guides people’s passion in the movie. This manifests in Robert McKee’s quote in Adaptation:
Nothing happens in the world? Are you out of your fucking mind? People are murdered every day. There's genocide, war, corruption. Every fucking day, somewhere in the world, somebody sacrifices his life to save someone else. Every fucking day, someone, somewhere makes a conscious decision to destroy someone else. People find love, people lose it. For Christ's sake, a child watches her mother beaten to death on the steps of a church. Someone goes hungry. Somebody else betrays his best friend for a woman (Jonze).
This implies that a constant state of change exists in the world as in the Orleans depiction of flux in Florida. Orlean and Jonze give their audience a sense of place, which is constantly changing while providing people opportunities to pursue their passion and experiencing change within themselves.
Not only does the two works describe a sense of place, they also relate the personal experience of the portrayed characters transformation while pursuing their passion. In the movie too, just as in the book, Orlean changes due to her experience with Laroche and orchids in Florida. A personal experience is a composition based on the authors experience and reactions based on the views of the place visited (Minot 7). Orlean transforms herself by her passionate personal experience with Laroche in Florida. Laroche intrigues Orlean and she visits Florida to meet him. She develops a love and hate relationship with Florida. She enjoys the Art Deco hotels and the huge delis in Florida. However, she dreads jellyfish, the look of her hair in humidity and the unsettling Florida’s heat. Thus, by pursuing Laroche, Orlean develops a love and hate relationship with Florida. The transformation of Orlean is also evident in the movie. While spending time with Laroche and learning about orchids, she falls in love with him and enjoys getting a high from drugs. She asserts while being stoned to be “Very happy now” (Jonze). Her experience with Laroche and Florida makes her realize that change is integral part of her life. She quotes “What I came to understand is that change is not a choice. Not for a species of plant and not for me” (Jonze). While indulging with Laroche in Florida, Orlean’s character experiences regret of becoming a drug addict and of committing adultery. She admits, “It's over. Everything's over. I did everything wrong. I want my life back. I want it back before everything got fucked up. I want to be a baby again. I want to be new” (Jonze). Laroche's enthusiasm for orchids draws Orlean to learn from him and gain insight into his behavior. Orlean realizes the importance of having an ardor in one’s life since it allows one to focus. This reflects in her quote, “There are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size” (Jonze). Both Orlean and Jonze render characters that experience change while being engaged with an object of their passion.
Along with personal experience of the characters causing their transformation, the details of their biographical sketches portrayed in both the movie and book, help the audience understand who undergoes transformation. A biographical sketch of Laroche is palpable in both the book and the movie. A biographical sketch is a pictorial of a person as viewed by the author (Minot 7). Orlean describes Laroche as eccentric based on his extreme passion and then abandonment of various objects like turtles, Ice Age fossils, orchids, and fish (3-4). This demonstrates that Laroche is fickle in his attachments. Laroche’s passion for orchids blinds him to the law. He displays reckless abandonment to the consequences of his actions when he tries to steal rare orchids from the Fakahatchee preserve. Laroche’s immorality gets him caught and earns him prosecution for his crime. This proves the sketch which Laroche's employer, the Seminole tribe of Florida, has of him, a “Troublemaker and Crazy White Man” (Orlean 3). By painting a picture of Laroche and showing different facets of his personality, Orlean helps readers visualize the character of Laroche and gives them a feeling of having personally met him. As in the book, the sketches in the movie help the audience understand the characters undergoing transformation. “Charlie Kaufman writes the way he lives... With Great Difficulty. His Twin Brother Donald Lives the way he writes... with foolish abandon. Susan writes about life... But can't live it. John's life is a book... Waiting to be adapted. One story... Four Lives... A million ways it can end” (Jonze). Each character excited about something in their life and struggling to make it complete. Laroche, played by Chris Cooper, brings humanity to the role of the orchid thief, really grounding the narrative and making it all believable. This is obvious in Laroche’s quote in the movie regarding orchids “Because they're so mutable. Adaptation is a profound process. Means you figure out how to thrive in the world” (Jonze). This shows that orchid’s adaptation to survive against all odds delights, inspires Laroche, and ignites his passion for orchids. In the movie Adaptation, the most spectacular sketch is of Charles Kauffman who is passionately at war with himself. “Do I have an original thought in my head? My bald head. Maybe if I were happier, my hair wouldn't be falling out. Life is short. I need to make the most of it. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I'm a walking cliché. I really need to go to the doctor and have my leg checked” (Jonze). This portrays him as being overly concerned of his image in the minds of others and constantly second guessing himself. In the movie, Charles realizes the key to success in his life is pursuing what delights him and not caring about what other people think about him. This realization transforms him. Thus, both the book and the movie exquisitely detail the various characters and help the audience understand who is undergoing the transformation while pursuing the object of their desire.
In conclusion, Orlean and Jonze convey the theme of people pursing a passion and experiencing transformation. The premise of people’s transformation by their passion reflects various literary nonfiction forms, namely, a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch. The warmth and humidity of Florida allows orchids to bloom. This enables Laroche’s pursuit of orchids. Orlean’s interaction with Laroche transforms her and helps her realize the importance of passion in her life. Laroche’s wild passion to possess rare orchids drives him reckless, he attempts to steal them from a preserve, and he gets caught red handed. In the movie, Jonze humorously depicts Charlie, a screenwriter, suffering from a writer’s block, fervent to adapt The Orchid Thief into a screenplay. Jonze describes Charles’ struggle with his own neuroticism. Charles determination to accurately depict the book into a screenplay helps him it to realize that he needs to pursue his hearts delight without worrying about other people’s opinion of him. Each work helps the reader understand the characters and the theme in the other. In both the works, the various characters display flaws and problems but in the end, their pursuit of a passion results in their transformation, which wows the audience.
Works Cited
Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random, 1998.
Minot, Stephen. Literary Nonfiction: The Fourth Genre. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Adaptation. Dir. Spike Jonze. Perf. Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper. 2002. DVD. Sony Pictures, 2003.
ENC 1102
Professor Myers
Thematic Synthesis
1539
7/31/2008
Synthesis of The Orchid Thief and Adaptation
The Orchid Thief, a literary nonfiction book by Susan Orlean, is about John Laroche, the person accused of stealing orchids from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve in Florida (6). Adaptation, a movie directed by Spike Jonze, is about a lovelorn screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, who turns to his less talented twin brother, Donald Kaufman, for help when his efforts to adapt The Orchid Thief into a movie are fruitless. The book's theme is people being transformed pursuing a passion. Similarly, the movie has a theme of people passionate about accurately representing the book into a screenplay and experiencing change. This theme of people's transformation by their passion appears in both the book and the movie using three nonfiction forms, namely, a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch.
In the book, a sense of place, a literary nonfiction form depicts Florida, which provides Laroche with his object of passion, orchids, and by pursuing orchids, Laroche transforms himself. A sense of place paints a verbal pictorial (Minot 9). This is vividly apparent when Orlean portrays Naples, the place of Laroche’s trial in Florida, as “warm and gummy” (7). This describes Florida’s warmth and humidity. The humid and sultry Florida provide abundance of orchids enabling Laroche to pursuit them with passion. Orlean continues to paint the verbal pictorial while adding that the wild and the tame part of Florida are “always in flux” (9). As the Everglades dries up, new buildings and highways sprung up. However, the cleared land is very fertile, and on it, vegetation grows up rapidly and the flux continues (Orlean 9). This flux enables orchids to be illusive and not easily within reach and only, the people with ardor to spend time and energy in pursuit attain discovery. Similar to the book, a sense of place guides people’s passion in the movie. This manifests in Robert McKee’s quote in Adaptation:
Nothing happens in the world? Are you out of your fucking mind? People are murdered every day. There's genocide, war, corruption. Every fucking day, somewhere in the world, somebody sacrifices his life to save someone else. Every fucking day, someone, somewhere makes a conscious decision to destroy someone else. People find love, people lose it. For Christ's sake, a child watches her mother beaten to death on the steps of a church. Someone goes hungry. Somebody else betrays his best friend for a woman (Jonze).
This implies that a constant state of change exists in the world as in the Orleans depiction of flux in Florida. Orlean and Jonze give their audience a sense of place, which is constantly changing while providing people opportunities to pursue their passion and experiencing change within themselves.
Not only does the two works describe a sense of place, they also relate the personal experience of the portrayed characters transformation while pursuing their passion. In the movie too, just as in the book, Orlean changes due to her experience with Laroche and orchids in Florida. A personal experience is a composition based on the authors experience and reactions based on the views of the place visited (Minot 7). Orlean transforms herself by her passionate personal experience with Laroche in Florida. Laroche intrigues Orlean and she visits Florida to meet him. She develops a love and hate relationship with Florida. She enjoys the Art Deco hotels and the huge delis in Florida. However, she dreads jellyfish, the look of her hair in humidity and the unsettling Florida’s heat. Thus, by pursuing Laroche, Orlean develops a love and hate relationship with Florida. The transformation of Orlean is also evident in the movie. While spending time with Laroche and learning about orchids, she falls in love with him and enjoys getting a high from drugs. She asserts while being stoned to be “Very happy now” (Jonze). Her experience with Laroche and Florida makes her realize that change is integral part of her life. She quotes “What I came to understand is that change is not a choice. Not for a species of plant and not for me” (Jonze). While indulging with Laroche in Florida, Orlean’s character experiences regret of becoming a drug addict and of committing adultery. She admits, “It's over. Everything's over. I did everything wrong. I want my life back. I want it back before everything got fucked up. I want to be a baby again. I want to be new” (Jonze). Laroche's enthusiasm for orchids draws Orlean to learn from him and gain insight into his behavior. Orlean realizes the importance of having an ardor in one’s life since it allows one to focus. This reflects in her quote, “There are too many ideas and things and people. Too many directions to go. I was starting to believe the reason it matters to care passionately about something, is that it whittles the world down to a more manageable size” (Jonze). Both Orlean and Jonze render characters that experience change while being engaged with an object of their passion.
Along with personal experience of the characters causing their transformation, the details of their biographical sketches portrayed in both the movie and book, help the audience understand who undergoes transformation. A biographical sketch of Laroche is palpable in both the book and the movie. A biographical sketch is a pictorial of a person as viewed by the author (Minot 7). Orlean describes Laroche as eccentric based on his extreme passion and then abandonment of various objects like turtles, Ice Age fossils, orchids, and fish (3-4). This demonstrates that Laroche is fickle in his attachments. Laroche’s passion for orchids blinds him to the law. He displays reckless abandonment to the consequences of his actions when he tries to steal rare orchids from the Fakahatchee preserve. Laroche’s immorality gets him caught and earns him prosecution for his crime. This proves the sketch which Laroche's employer, the Seminole tribe of Florida, has of him, a “Troublemaker and Crazy White Man” (Orlean 3). By painting a picture of Laroche and showing different facets of his personality, Orlean helps readers visualize the character of Laroche and gives them a feeling of having personally met him. As in the book, the sketches in the movie help the audience understand the characters undergoing transformation. “Charlie Kaufman writes the way he lives... With Great Difficulty. His Twin Brother Donald Lives the way he writes... with foolish abandon. Susan writes about life... But can't live it. John's life is a book... Waiting to be adapted. One story... Four Lives... A million ways it can end” (Jonze). Each character excited about something in their life and struggling to make it complete. Laroche, played by Chris Cooper, brings humanity to the role of the orchid thief, really grounding the narrative and making it all believable. This is obvious in Laroche’s quote in the movie regarding orchids “Because they're so mutable. Adaptation is a profound process. Means you figure out how to thrive in the world” (Jonze). This shows that orchid’s adaptation to survive against all odds delights, inspires Laroche, and ignites his passion for orchids. In the movie Adaptation, the most spectacular sketch is of Charles Kauffman who is passionately at war with himself. “Do I have an original thought in my head? My bald head. Maybe if I were happier, my hair wouldn't be falling out. Life is short. I need to make the most of it. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. I'm a walking cliché. I really need to go to the doctor and have my leg checked” (Jonze). This portrays him as being overly concerned of his image in the minds of others and constantly second guessing himself. In the movie, Charles realizes the key to success in his life is pursuing what delights him and not caring about what other people think about him. This realization transforms him. Thus, both the book and the movie exquisitely detail the various characters and help the audience understand who is undergoing the transformation while pursuing the object of their desire.
In conclusion, Orlean and Jonze convey the theme of people pursing a passion and experiencing transformation. The premise of people’s transformation by their passion reflects various literary nonfiction forms, namely, a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch. The warmth and humidity of Florida allows orchids to bloom. This enables Laroche’s pursuit of orchids. Orlean’s interaction with Laroche transforms her and helps her realize the importance of passion in her life. Laroche’s wild passion to possess rare orchids drives him reckless, he attempts to steal them from a preserve, and he gets caught red handed. In the movie, Jonze humorously depicts Charlie, a screenwriter, suffering from a writer’s block, fervent to adapt The Orchid Thief into a screenplay. Jonze describes Charles’ struggle with his own neuroticism. Charles determination to accurately depict the book into a screenplay helps him it to realize that he needs to pursue his hearts delight without worrying about other people’s opinion of him. Each work helps the reader understand the characters and the theme in the other. In both the works, the various characters display flaws and problems but in the end, their pursuit of a passion results in their transformation, which wows the audience.
Works Cited
Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random, 1998.
Minot, Stephen. Literary Nonfiction: The Fourth Genre. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Adaptation. Dir. Spike Jonze. Perf. Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper. 2002. DVD. Sony Pictures, 2003.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The Elements of Style in The Orchid Thief
Jyoti
ENC 1102
Professor Myers
Critical Analysis
1013
7/22/2008
The Elements of Style in The Orchid Thief
In her book The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean gives an account of John Laroche, the alleged orchid poacher, in Florida. She uses descriptive characterization in introducing Laroche, the central character in her work. While informing the reader about the various details of orchids and Florida, Orlean displays her “emotions in varying degrees to make it a personal account” (Minot 35). She effectively uses Florida’s natural setting to engage the reader’s interest. Her style of writing is informal and varies with context. The theme in her work is people having a passion. By efficient use of characterization, diction, and passionate theme, Orlean accomplishes her goal of enrapturing the reader with clarity.
Orlean keeps the readers engrossed by painting a clear picture of Laroche, the orchid thief, by using brilliant characterization, an element of style. “Characterization is the technique of revealing character. It creates the illusion of having actually met an individual” (Minot 149). In the first chapter “The Millionaires Hothouse” of her book The Orchid Thief, Orlean reveals the main character John Laroche as not a financial millionaire but having a wealth of orchids (18). This reveals the financial status of Laroche and his possession of orchids. Along with his current passion of orchids, the author helps the readers understand the fickleness of Laroche’s attachment when Orlean describes Laroche as eccentric since his various passions come and go (4). Laroche is so passionate about orchids that he attempts to steal them from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve and is caught red-handed (Orlean 6). Thus, readers get a glimpse of the recklessness of Laroche’s behavior and his complete disregard for consequences. While being tried for his crime, during the court hearing, Laroche asserts his depth of knowledge about orchids (8). This help Orlean discover the profound understanding Laroche has regarding orchids and the reverence people have for him due to his experience (16). Overall, Orlean paints a picture of Laroche as “Millionaire” of orchids, associated with the hothouses or the labs of orchids in Florida. She asserts that even though Laroche is knowledgeable in orchids, he is fickle in his passions and reckless in his behavior. By giving an account of Laroche and various facets of his personality, she keeps the readers engaged with a sense of having met him and having an intimate knowledge of his character.
Not only is the characterization superb in Orlean’s book, she uses eloquent diction, another element of style, while describing Laroche. She uses informal diction that is “closer to the spoken word” (Minot, 36). She describes the main character, Laroche, as “a tall guy, skinny as a stick, pale eyed, slouch-shouldered, and sharply handsome, in spite of the fact that he is missing all his front teeth” (Orlean 3). This demonstrates the conversational tone of Orlean. The dialogues in this book are simple. Laroche’s description of himself illustrates this best when he states, “Boy, I sure was a weird little kid” (Orlean 3). She vividly describes Laroche’s knowledge, eccentricity, and inflated self-esteem by his quote “Frankly, Your Honor, I’m probably the smartest person I know” (Orlean 8). Along with his eccentricity, Orlean clearly describes Laroche’s paranoia and frustration with the law when Laroche quotes “You know I feel like I’ve been screwed” (12). In addition to clear and conversational tone, Orlean’s syntax “varies not only in length but also in complexity” (Minot 37). She uses some simple sentences like “Laroche strikes many people as eccentric” (Orlean 3). In addition, she also uses lengthy and complex sentence structures like “He collected them, sold them, declared that he lived for them, then abandoned them for something else – lapidary I think – then he abandoned lapidary and became obsessed with collecting and resilvering old mirrors” (Orlean 4). By using a conversational style, and varying her dialogue between simple, short, and long sentences, she keeps her readers captivated and gives them a sense of having a conversation with her.
While using a clear, conversational style, Orlean makes the reader aware of the theme, another element of style, of her book. Theme is an “abstract portion of a literary work that comments on the human condition” (Minot 20). The theme of The Orchid Thief is people’s transformation while pursuing a passion. Orlean explains her theme in the statement “It’s about getting immersed in something, and learning about it, and having it become part of your life. It’s a kind of direction” (279). This theme exemplifies in Laroche’s passion for orchids, which in turn, drives him to become an orchid thief. His passion for orchids inspires Orlean’s alteration and she admits “What else I didn't say was that his life seemed to be filled with things that were just like the ghost orchid- wonderful to imagine and easy to fall in love with but a little fantastic and fleeting and out of reach” (Orlean, 41). The implication of her book is indulging folks in passionate living, in pursuit of what delights them, and experiencing a change because of this pursuit. Orlean admits a passion within her when she states, “I suppose I do have one unembarassing passion - I want to know how it feels like to care about something passionately” (41). Here she reflects that her experience with Laroche has enlightened her and she wants to have a passion and pursue it as Laroche pursues orchids. Orlean’s theme of people’s transformation while pursuing their passion, keeps the readers reading until the very end.
Orlean cleverly uses various elements of style, like characterization, diction, and theme to keep readers engaged in her book. She elegantly captivates her reader with a vivid characterization, informal style, and passionate theme in her book. She meticulously describes the subject of her book, Laroche the orchid poacher, in an informal and conversational dialogue while varying her diction. She draws her readers to the theme of her work, which is, people’s transformation by living their passion. Her passion about people of passion enthralls her readers, keeping them reading to the end. Orlean’s work truly is beautiful to her readers while being about “beauty and obsession”.
Works Cited
Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random, 1998.
Minot, Stephen. Literary Nonfiction: The Fourth Genre. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
ENC 1102
Professor Myers
Critical Analysis
1013
7/22/2008
The Elements of Style in The Orchid Thief
In her book The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean gives an account of John Laroche, the alleged orchid poacher, in Florida. She uses descriptive characterization in introducing Laroche, the central character in her work. While informing the reader about the various details of orchids and Florida, Orlean displays her “emotions in varying degrees to make it a personal account” (Minot 35). She effectively uses Florida’s natural setting to engage the reader’s interest. Her style of writing is informal and varies with context. The theme in her work is people having a passion. By efficient use of characterization, diction, and passionate theme, Orlean accomplishes her goal of enrapturing the reader with clarity.
Orlean keeps the readers engrossed by painting a clear picture of Laroche, the orchid thief, by using brilliant characterization, an element of style. “Characterization is the technique of revealing character. It creates the illusion of having actually met an individual” (Minot 149). In the first chapter “The Millionaires Hothouse” of her book The Orchid Thief, Orlean reveals the main character John Laroche as not a financial millionaire but having a wealth of orchids (18). This reveals the financial status of Laroche and his possession of orchids. Along with his current passion of orchids, the author helps the readers understand the fickleness of Laroche’s attachment when Orlean describes Laroche as eccentric since his various passions come and go (4). Laroche is so passionate about orchids that he attempts to steal them from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve and is caught red-handed (Orlean 6). Thus, readers get a glimpse of the recklessness of Laroche’s behavior and his complete disregard for consequences. While being tried for his crime, during the court hearing, Laroche asserts his depth of knowledge about orchids (8). This help Orlean discover the profound understanding Laroche has regarding orchids and the reverence people have for him due to his experience (16). Overall, Orlean paints a picture of Laroche as “Millionaire” of orchids, associated with the hothouses or the labs of orchids in Florida. She asserts that even though Laroche is knowledgeable in orchids, he is fickle in his passions and reckless in his behavior. By giving an account of Laroche and various facets of his personality, she keeps the readers engaged with a sense of having met him and having an intimate knowledge of his character.
Not only is the characterization superb in Orlean’s book, she uses eloquent diction, another element of style, while describing Laroche. She uses informal diction that is “closer to the spoken word” (Minot, 36). She describes the main character, Laroche, as “a tall guy, skinny as a stick, pale eyed, slouch-shouldered, and sharply handsome, in spite of the fact that he is missing all his front teeth” (Orlean 3). This demonstrates the conversational tone of Orlean. The dialogues in this book are simple. Laroche’s description of himself illustrates this best when he states, “Boy, I sure was a weird little kid” (Orlean 3). She vividly describes Laroche’s knowledge, eccentricity, and inflated self-esteem by his quote “Frankly, Your Honor, I’m probably the smartest person I know” (Orlean 8). Along with his eccentricity, Orlean clearly describes Laroche’s paranoia and frustration with the law when Laroche quotes “You know I feel like I’ve been screwed” (12). In addition to clear and conversational tone, Orlean’s syntax “varies not only in length but also in complexity” (Minot 37). She uses some simple sentences like “Laroche strikes many people as eccentric” (Orlean 3). In addition, she also uses lengthy and complex sentence structures like “He collected them, sold them, declared that he lived for them, then abandoned them for something else – lapidary I think – then he abandoned lapidary and became obsessed with collecting and resilvering old mirrors” (Orlean 4). By using a conversational style, and varying her dialogue between simple, short, and long sentences, she keeps her readers captivated and gives them a sense of having a conversation with her.
While using a clear, conversational style, Orlean makes the reader aware of the theme, another element of style, of her book. Theme is an “abstract portion of a literary work that comments on the human condition” (Minot 20). The theme of The Orchid Thief is people’s transformation while pursuing a passion. Orlean explains her theme in the statement “It’s about getting immersed in something, and learning about it, and having it become part of your life. It’s a kind of direction” (279). This theme exemplifies in Laroche’s passion for orchids, which in turn, drives him to become an orchid thief. His passion for orchids inspires Orlean’s alteration and she admits “What else I didn't say was that his life seemed to be filled with things that were just like the ghost orchid- wonderful to imagine and easy to fall in love with but a little fantastic and fleeting and out of reach” (Orlean, 41). The implication of her book is indulging folks in passionate living, in pursuit of what delights them, and experiencing a change because of this pursuit. Orlean admits a passion within her when she states, “I suppose I do have one unembarassing passion - I want to know how it feels like to care about something passionately” (41). Here she reflects that her experience with Laroche has enlightened her and she wants to have a passion and pursue it as Laroche pursues orchids. Orlean’s theme of people’s transformation while pursuing their passion, keeps the readers reading until the very end.
Orlean cleverly uses various elements of style, like characterization, diction, and theme to keep readers engaged in her book. She elegantly captivates her reader with a vivid characterization, informal style, and passionate theme in her book. She meticulously describes the subject of her book, Laroche the orchid poacher, in an informal and conversational dialogue while varying her diction. She draws her readers to the theme of her work, which is, people’s transformation by living their passion. Her passion about people of passion enthralls her readers, keeping them reading to the end. Orlean’s work truly is beautiful to her readers while being about “beauty and obsession”.
Works Cited
Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random, 1998.
Minot, Stephen. Literary Nonfiction: The Fourth Genre. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Forms of Literary Nonfiction in The Orchid Thief
Jyoti
ENC 1102
Professor Myers
Interactive Essay Assignment
958
7/15/2008
Forms of Literary Nonfiction in The Orchid Thief
The Orchid Thief, a literary nonfiction work by Susan Orlean, is an account of her interaction with an orchid poacher in Florida. “The Millionaire’s Hothouse” is where Orlean introduces John Laroche, the person accused of stealing orchids from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve (6). She also describes Florida where the trial of Laroche is taking place for the alleged theft of orchids (Orlean 6-7). The three nonfiction forms evident in this book are a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch. Through these forms, the author keeps her readers engrossed in her book by giving them a clear sense of Florida, her experience in Florida with Laroche, and a vivid sketch of Laroche.
Orlean enraptures her readers to Florida, using a sense of place, a literary nonfiction form. A sense of place paints a verbal pictorial (Minot 9). This pictorial is evident when the author describes Naples in Florida, the place of Laroche’s trial, as “warm and gummy” (Orlean 7). The warmth and humidity of Florida is instantaneously clear to the readers with this depiction. She saw “thick thunderclouds trolling along the edge of the sky” from her plane and she observes the “storm explode over the water” from her hotel (Orlean 7). This illustration gives readers a gist of stormy weather in Florida. Orlean posits Fakahatchee as a wild swamp growing rare, endangered orchids (6). Readers can now understand that the Florida’s swampy land is fertile venue for the orchids to grow. Orlean explains that on examining the Everglades, Big Cypress Swamp, or the Loxahatchee, one can conclude that Florida is a “last of American frontier” (9). She elaborates to the readers that Florida is one of the few places in America, which has undeveloped land in its pristine beauty. Orlean confirms that the wild and the tame parts of Florida are “always in flux” (9). On the one hand, as the Everglades dries up, new buildings and highways spring up. However, on the other hand, the cleared land is very fertile, which allows vegetation to grow rapidly and maintaining the flux. This flux is also reflected in Orlean description of Florida as “always fomenting change, its natural landscapes just moments away from being drained and developed, its most manicured places only an instant away from collapsing back into jungle” (10). By painting the various facets of Florida, including its hot and stormy weather, and constant flux between swamps fertile for vegetation growth and developments on dried land, Orlean gives a vivid sense of having visited Florida to her readers.
In addition to painting a picture of Florida, Orlean shares personal experience, a literary nonfiction form, to keep her readers engaged. A personal experience is a composition based on the authors experience and reactions based on the views of the place visited (Minot 7). She elaborates on her personal experience by sharing her love and hate for Florida (Orlean 8-9). She enjoys the Art Deco hotels and the huge delis in Florida. However, she dreads jellyfish, the look of her hair in humidity and the unsettling Florida’s heat. In addition, the incongruities and paradoxes of Florida perplex Orlean (11). She explains that these incongruities are evident with Florida woods being filled with more native species of orchids than any place else in world (Orlean 11). However, there are also several “manmade jungles, the hothouses of Florida, full of astonishing flowers – created and multiplied in labs using test tubes and artificially multiplied to infinity” (Orlean 11). She is elaborating to her readers her perplexion regarding the fact that in spite of abundance of natural varieties of Orchids, Florida has several artificially grown orchids in labs. By relating her experience in various forms and places in Florida, readers can intensely realize Orlean’s reaction to Florida.
In addition to describing her experience in Florida, Orlean uses biographical sketch, a literary nonfiction form, to captivate her readers. A biographical sketch is a pictorial of a person as viewed by the author (Minot 7). Orlean describes Laroche as eccentric based on his extreme passion and then abandonment of various objects like turtles, Ice Age fossils, orchids, and fish (3-4). This demonstrates that Laroche is fickle in his attachments. Laroche’s passion for orchids blinds him to the law. He displays reckless abandonment to the consequences of his actions when he tries to steal rare orchids from the Fakahatchee preserve. Laroche’s immorality gets him caught and earns him prosecution for his crime. This proves the sketch which Laroche's employer, the Seminole tribe of Florida, has of him, a “Troublemaker and Crazy White Man” (Orlean 3). By painting a picture of Laroche and showing different facets of his personality, Orlean helps readers visualize the character of Laroche and gives them a feeling of having personally met him.
In conclusion, Orlean keeps her readers immersed by elegantly conveying her message in The Orchid Thief using various literary nonfiction forms, namely a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch. She helps readers visualize Florida’s tapestry and climate and gives them a sense of Florida by painting a vivid picture with a long list of details including visual aspects, smells, and sounds, mixed with her own feelings and experiences. She integrates her personal experience with Laroche, his obsession with orchids, and his trial in Florida over the theft of orchids. She clearly outlines Laroche with a biographical sketch and introduces his eccentricities and character. By using these forms, she keeps the readers actively engaged and reading until the very end.
Works Cited
Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random, 1998.
Minot, Stephen. Literary Nonfiction: The Fourth Genre. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
ENC 1102
Professor Myers
Interactive Essay Assignment
958
7/15/2008
Forms of Literary Nonfiction in The Orchid Thief
The Orchid Thief, a literary nonfiction work by Susan Orlean, is an account of her interaction with an orchid poacher in Florida. “The Millionaire’s Hothouse” is where Orlean introduces John Laroche, the person accused of stealing orchids from the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve (6). She also describes Florida where the trial of Laroche is taking place for the alleged theft of orchids (Orlean 6-7). The three nonfiction forms evident in this book are a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch. Through these forms, the author keeps her readers engrossed in her book by giving them a clear sense of Florida, her experience in Florida with Laroche, and a vivid sketch of Laroche.
Orlean enraptures her readers to Florida, using a sense of place, a literary nonfiction form. A sense of place paints a verbal pictorial (Minot 9). This pictorial is evident when the author describes Naples in Florida, the place of Laroche’s trial, as “warm and gummy” (Orlean 7). The warmth and humidity of Florida is instantaneously clear to the readers with this depiction. She saw “thick thunderclouds trolling along the edge of the sky” from her plane and she observes the “storm explode over the water” from her hotel (Orlean 7). This illustration gives readers a gist of stormy weather in Florida. Orlean posits Fakahatchee as a wild swamp growing rare, endangered orchids (6). Readers can now understand that the Florida’s swampy land is fertile venue for the orchids to grow. Orlean explains that on examining the Everglades, Big Cypress Swamp, or the Loxahatchee, one can conclude that Florida is a “last of American frontier” (9). She elaborates to the readers that Florida is one of the few places in America, which has undeveloped land in its pristine beauty. Orlean confirms that the wild and the tame parts of Florida are “always in flux” (9). On the one hand, as the Everglades dries up, new buildings and highways spring up. However, on the other hand, the cleared land is very fertile, which allows vegetation to grow rapidly and maintaining the flux. This flux is also reflected in Orlean description of Florida as “always fomenting change, its natural landscapes just moments away from being drained and developed, its most manicured places only an instant away from collapsing back into jungle” (10). By painting the various facets of Florida, including its hot and stormy weather, and constant flux between swamps fertile for vegetation growth and developments on dried land, Orlean gives a vivid sense of having visited Florida to her readers.
In addition to painting a picture of Florida, Orlean shares personal experience, a literary nonfiction form, to keep her readers engaged. A personal experience is a composition based on the authors experience and reactions based on the views of the place visited (Minot 7). She elaborates on her personal experience by sharing her love and hate for Florida (Orlean 8-9). She enjoys the Art Deco hotels and the huge delis in Florida. However, she dreads jellyfish, the look of her hair in humidity and the unsettling Florida’s heat. In addition, the incongruities and paradoxes of Florida perplex Orlean (11). She explains that these incongruities are evident with Florida woods being filled with more native species of orchids than any place else in world (Orlean 11). However, there are also several “manmade jungles, the hothouses of Florida, full of astonishing flowers – created and multiplied in labs using test tubes and artificially multiplied to infinity” (Orlean 11). She is elaborating to her readers her perplexion regarding the fact that in spite of abundance of natural varieties of Orchids, Florida has several artificially grown orchids in labs. By relating her experience in various forms and places in Florida, readers can intensely realize Orlean’s reaction to Florida.
In addition to describing her experience in Florida, Orlean uses biographical sketch, a literary nonfiction form, to captivate her readers. A biographical sketch is a pictorial of a person as viewed by the author (Minot 7). Orlean describes Laroche as eccentric based on his extreme passion and then abandonment of various objects like turtles, Ice Age fossils, orchids, and fish (3-4). This demonstrates that Laroche is fickle in his attachments. Laroche’s passion for orchids blinds him to the law. He displays reckless abandonment to the consequences of his actions when he tries to steal rare orchids from the Fakahatchee preserve. Laroche’s immorality gets him caught and earns him prosecution for his crime. This proves the sketch which Laroche's employer, the Seminole tribe of Florida, has of him, a “Troublemaker and Crazy White Man” (Orlean 3). By painting a picture of Laroche and showing different facets of his personality, Orlean helps readers visualize the character of Laroche and gives them a feeling of having personally met him.
In conclusion, Orlean keeps her readers immersed by elegantly conveying her message in The Orchid Thief using various literary nonfiction forms, namely a sense of place, personal experience, and biographical sketch. She helps readers visualize Florida’s tapestry and climate and gives them a sense of Florida by painting a vivid picture with a long list of details including visual aspects, smells, and sounds, mixed with her own feelings and experiences. She integrates her personal experience with Laroche, his obsession with orchids, and his trial in Florida over the theft of orchids. She clearly outlines Laroche with a biographical sketch and introduces his eccentricities and character. By using these forms, she keeps the readers actively engaged and reading until the very end.
Works Cited
Orlean, Susan. The Orchid Thief. New York: Random, 1998.
Minot, Stephen. Literary Nonfiction: The Fourth Genre. NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
My English Writings
Hello to my english writings. Please feel free to browse and jot your thoughts. Thank you and have a pleasant day!!!!
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