Ocean At The End Of The Lane Analysis

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman is told in first person by an unnamed narrator recalling memories of a peculiar time from his youth. The book opens with the narrator describing his day at a funeral of someone close to him, then leaving and wandering toward the lane he grew up on. He ends up at the Hempstock’s farm, where he meets Mrs. Hempstock, and the memories of his past begin to unfold. From what he explains from the beginning all the way to the prologue, one could gather that he may not be the main character of this story. The unnamed narrator consistently acts as a passive character for the duration of the novel. He doesn’t have any friends at school, nor does have any hobbies outside of reading books alone in his room. During

The first time she displays her abilities are when she manages to contain the giant tent spirit (Gaiman 41). Later, upon finding out about Ursula Monkton, Lettie knows how to get rid of her. At this time, the conflict is between Ursula and Lettie. She is going to try to solve a problem. She gathers all the supplies that she’ll need, then confidently proceeds to confront Ursula. Upon attempting to confront Ursula, Lettie accidentally escalates the situation for the worse. Once the hunger birds, or as the Hempstocks call them, varmints, finish devouring Ursula, their sights are set on the narrator (Gaiman 129). Lettie, in this situation, is doing everything, while the narrator is merely a bystander. He does nothing to contribute outside of asking Lettie what she’s doing and why. He acts as a follower, a witness to the others abilities. The only time the narrator attempts to take anything into his own hands is when he attempts to sacrifice himself to the hunger birds to save the world. Instead of letting him do so, Lettie throws herself between him and the varmints, sacrificing her own life. Again, by trying to solve a problem, she instead hurts herself (Gaiman