"I WAS A MILLIONAIRE twice over and half again before I was twenty-one. I stole every nickel of it and blew the bulk of the bundle on fine threads, gourmet foods, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, fine wheels and other sensual goodies. I partied in every capital in Europe, basked on all the famous beaches and good-timed it in South America, the South Seasm the Orient and the more palatable portions of Africa.....
.....Oddly enough, I never felt like a criminal. I was one, of coursem and I was aware of the fact. I've been described by authorities and news reporters as one of this century's cleverest bum-check passers, flimflam artists and crooksm a con man od Academy Award caliber....
.....and if and wen I were caught I wasn't going to win an Oscars. I was going to jail."(4-5)
-In only the first five pages, Abagnale has already portrayed the main character for us. He lets us now how not only is the main character a criminal, but he's living the luxurious life without any regrets. This quote helps us to see how the criminal feels, thinks, and knows about his situation. This quote almost forces us to listen to that little voice in our head that wants us to side with the so called "bad guy." The problem with us siding with the bad guy, is that we don't strike the mood that he's a bad guy, he is polite to everyone he meets, he has excellent credability, and even has all the apparel to look like an actual pilot. This makes us almost jealous of how smart this man is to be able to do this and get away with all of it while living the high life. At the end of the quote, it explains to us how he is portrayed in the media as almost an actor or movie star in that he is of "Academy Award caliber." Yet, in his own mind the main character knows what he's doing is wrong and will go to jail. This doesn't bother him at all, and like most people, it shouldn't with the life he's living.
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2 comments:
JIMSUM, this book sounds exiting, i saw the movie and it was great. have you seen the movie yet? or are you waiting till after you read the book? this book rele jumps out at you from the begining, just like the movie did, i havent read the book yey but i will look into it. =)
The character reminds me of Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. He has everything he wants and did almost nothing to get it. While I envy his lifestyle and would like to live like him, I’m upset by the fact he achieves this lifestyle without the hard work I’m use to doing.
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