Under The Net Literary Analysis

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Under the Net follows the intelligent, but lethargic writer, James “Jake” Donahue through his ongoing day-to-day journeys of women, money, politics and philosophical literature on his return from Paris. Set in 1950’s postwar London, the city itself becomes fully integrated into the fabric of the narrative. Jake Donaghue, and his companion, Finn, find themselves in trouble searching for a place to stay after Madge kicks them out following her engagement to a man who has promised to make her famous. Consequentially, they ask Dave, Jake’s philosopher friend, if they can stay with him. Jake is denied as Dave explains “We must not be two nervous wrecks living together” (Murdoch 2) . He is suggested to make arrangements to stay with Anna Quentin,…show more content…
She proclaims that existentialism provides us with an image of self in the modern world as a world without God is understood to be contingent. Murdoch first introduces the reader to this idea as the protagonist, Jake, is continually alone with his thoughts. Jake tells us himself that he is “talented but lazy” (Murdoch 1). He is a writer, but prefers to translate the French works of Jean-Pierre Breteuil instead having original writings for the easy money. Jake's inclination to "accept circumstances for what they are" serves as an allegory for the thought of possibility, or the thought that all the truth is not steady or constant, and the flow of his life is typically identified with alternate examples of currents in the novel. Jake is a picaresque character, traveling through an arrangement of scenes with little improvement. His state toward the end of the novel mirrors his state at its starting: he is without an occupation, he has minimal expenditure, and he is without a spot to live. In spite of his absence of course and the evident possibility in Jake's life, he is everlastingly looking for non-possibility; he is by all accounts searching for strength or some feeling of "reality". He continually thinks about what is imperative to him: Does he adore Madge? Anna? Is cash or distinction compelling? Does he think about the value of his written work? It is thus that Jake uses a lot of the novel scanning for Anna and Hugo, typically speaking to the mission for reality. Jake's life may be to a great extent unexpected, however he is searching for dependability or non-possibility, and through his self reflection Murdoch investigates the relationship between the two reflecting

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