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.