Killing Floor

Lee Child is firm in his belief that character, rather than plot, is what readers remember most. In the introduction, he says Sherlock Holmes is little more than an attitude with a few unforgettable lines of dialogue. Craft an essay in which you choose at least two lines of Reacher’s dialogue you consider unforgettable and explore what those lines reveal about his character or the novel’s major themes.

In literature and other art forms, no depiction of violence exists for its own sake. Raymond Chandler even argues that for a detective novel to be successful, the murder has to happen for a reason other than just having a dead body in the story. Select one significant scene of violence in the novel and examine it stylistically and thematically: how does Child construct the scene itself and Reacher’s action within it, and what role does this play within the work as a whole. Avoid plot summary.

Jack Reacher as a literary character is often linked to westerns, detective stories, and knights-errant in academic interpretations of the series. In a thoughtful essay, select a hero from a work of “classic” literature that you are already familiar with, and explore that hero’s journey and