49 pages • 1 hour read
Graeme Macrae BurnetA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Preface-Statements
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 15-37
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 37-59
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 59-83
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 83-96
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 96-112
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 112-126
The Account of Roderick Macrae, Pages 126-133 and Medical Reports
Extract from Travels in the Border-Lands of Lunacy by J. Bruce Thomson
The Trial, First and Second Day
The Trial, Third Day-Epilogue
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
One of the novel’s most prevalent recurrent elements is the literary technique known as the unreliable narrator, which is typically presented as a first-person narrative in which the viewpoint character provides the reader with false or misleading information. In His Bloody Project, Burnet thematizes this element by presenting two lengthy sections that feature different unreliable narrators in the writings of Roderick Macrae and J. Bruce Thomson. By presenting two narratives of dubious veracity, one right after the other, Burnet compounds this technique’s disorienting effect and thematizes the ways in which information is omitted or obscured. This is most apparent in Roderick’s omissions around descriptions of sexuality, which are crucial to understanding his narrative and play a major role in his trial. Because Roderick consistently obscures or omits instances of sexuality that he witnesses or enacts, it becomes apparent that Roderick is an incredibly canny writer who is attempting to portray himself in a light that doesn’t necessarily accord with objective reality.
Although it is subject to less scrutiny than Roderick’s writing, Thomson’s memoir is riddled with similar instances of obfuscation. For example, he notes that his writing “is based on the record [he] compiled from memory upon returning to the inn” (149) he stayed at while investigating Roderick.
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