Cage of Butterflies written by Brian Caswell incorporates many techniques that reflect how atypical this book is to the crime-fiction genre. The manner Caswell uses incorporates the “hard-boiled” protagonist, the structure of the text and the characters involved as well as many others
Common archetypes in crime-fiction literature evoke an immediate connection. This allows the reader to grasp a better understanding of the character even before they have been introduced. For instance, if one is to describe a man in his late 30’s with an idiosyncratic hat, a pipe, magnifying glass, a long old-fashioned coat and an obsession with investigating the abnormal, you would naturally think of Conan Doyle's’, Sherlock Holmes. However Caswell’s characters are neither photogenic, wealthy or famous which seems enigmatic. But despite this, they are all geniuses which substitute the other lifestyle traits they lack. “A mismatched bunch of post- (most of us) pubescent misfits, with super-high IQs and sub-zero social skills locked away in this cosy coastal retreat, partly because they don’t understand them, but mainly because someone (though I’ve yet to meet anyone who knows exactly who) thought we might prove useful”. This quote voiced by Greg, a protagonist, gives the audience a brief insight into his mind and his perspective of “The Farm” which he finds irrational and to a point, insane.
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John Larsen and MacIntyre are obviously the antagonists, but their appearance and attitude depict them as businessmen rather than immoral and inhumane people. The account on June 14, 1989 suggests this, as well as revealing more about the ways Larsen persuades the parents of the once called, “autistic savants”, to hand over their