In the novel “The seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” we follow a man named Aiden Bishop as he attempts to escape a prison with his friend, by solving a decades-old mystery. Despite what it appears, the main theme of the book does not have to do with the solving of the murder. Instead, the mystery is used as a tool to represent Aiden’s journey as he progresses from a miserable man, who has given up everything, to developing into a new person and escaping into the real world.
“My mind has gone blank. I don’t know who Anna is or why I’m calling her name. I don’t even know how I got here.” -Page 1. This is how we see Aiden in the beginning. He has gone through the story of Blackheath so many times. He has lost everything, his memories and all
…show more content…
He had jettisoned everything except the need for revenge, and now after hundreds or thousands of iterations, he has lost even the capacity for this. This is the passing away of the last remnant of Aiden Bishop within this man. Revenge was the only part of Aiden that had survived before Blackheath, and now even this is absent. As we meet him now, as Bell in the forest, he is not Aiden Bishop, he surrendered that before entering the prison. As the story progresses, he regains a bit of understanding about his past life as Aiden. “And what of Aiden Bishop? What do I owe him? The man who trapped me here so he could torture Annabelle Caulker. I won’t give him his memories back, I’m certain of that. Tomorrow, I’ll see his face in the mirror and, somehow, I’ll have to make it mine.” -page 392. Here we see “Aiden” after he has escaped Blackheath and received …show more content…
As he gets closer to solving the mystery, he also discovers more of the person he was. Aiden as he was had mired himself within the prison in revenge, and as he journeys to redeem himself, he and Anna get closer to solving the mystery. Along the way, he discovers who he is via information given to him by people such as the plague doctor. This is the way that these prisons such as Blackheath work, the imprisoned must redeem themself by solving a mystery. This is the main technique the author uses to demonstrate his new understanding, comparing it to the mystery of evelyn hardcastle. When “Aiden” solves the mystery, we see his new self-understanding in his narration. “Tomorrow can be whatever I want it to be, which means for the first time in decades, I can look forward to it. Instead of being something to fear, it can be a promise I make myself. A chance to be braver or kinder, to make what was wrong right. To be better than I am today.” -page 392. Here we see “Aiden’s” new understanding, instead of being lost in revenge he is looking ahead and enjoying