Sympathy for the Wronged: Comparing "In the Name of the Father" and "Amnesia" Anonymous 12th Grade

Jim Sheridan and Peter Carey, director of the film In the Name of the Father and author of the novel Amnesia, respectively, have both lived through many world events surrounding an abuse of power that have a major effect on the central characters involved. Sheridan’s film is based upon the conflict and wrongful imprisonment of Irish travelers in England during the peak of the IRA terror attacks. In the mid-1900’s, Carey was involved in the advertising media from a relatively young age and was dumbstruck by the censorship of the Battle of Brisbane, where drunken Australian and American Armed forces rioted in Brisbane during the Second World War - a central event in the novel. He was a public advocate against government censorship of news and draws constant parallels between himself as a writer and Felix Moore, the protagonist. This relationship is critical, as these narratives are based on real events and are presented with style of narration, characterization and motifs that Sheridan and Carey use throughout to show victims of abuse of power utilizing narrative perspective, theme and tone, characterization and motifs, allowing audiences to feel compassion and sympathy.

Authors utilize an elaborate and highly complex style of...