Title explanation:
Jaws refers to the 20 feet long shark in this book. It's also possible to think of the dangerous jaws in which the city and its inhabitants are hold.
Motto:
For Wendy
Construction:
3 Parts, 14 chapters, told chronological in past tense
Writer:
Peter Benchley: born into a family of authors and raised in a Manhattan brownstone. After graduation from Harvard University, he took a year off and travelled around the world. The result of the trip was Time and a ticket, a non-fiction book published in 1964. He later worked as a reporter for the WASHINGTON POST, as a radio-TV editor for NEWSWEEK and as a speechwriter during the Johnson Administration. After this period of steady employment, Peter Benchley became a free-lancer and took on assignments that included a stint as TV commentator with the Newsweek Broadcast Service and with WPIX-TV in New York.
De verkiezingen: wat doen de partijen voor jongeren?
Setting:
- A small town on Long Island, called Amity.
- 3 weeks in the beginning of a summer season (June) in an unknown year (probably 1974: the year of publishing).
Genre:
fiction-thriller novel
Theme:
The terror by a shark, which grasps a town and its inhabitants.
Motivation:
On one side I think Peter Benchley himself (like Hooper) is fascinated by sharks. On the other hand: then he wouldn't portrait a shark as a Men-eating monster. A more likely explanation here is the money.
Characters:
Main:
- Martin Brody 41, married to Ellen, 3 kids: Sean(9)/ Martin JR(12)/ Billy (14), head of the police in Amity, best friend Harry Meadows, dislikes Hooper (suspects him of sex with his wife), feels guilty for the second and third kill after not closing the beach the first time.
Minor:
- Ellen Brody (Shepherd) è36 looks barely 30, hates summers: reminds her of missed chances, cheats on Martin but regrets it, likes Hooper.
- Harry Meadowsè maried to Dorothy Meadows, likes to eat, editor of the Amity Leader.
- Matt Hooperè comes from Woods Hole, icthyologist (=zoologist, specialized in fish life), fascinated by sharks, dislikes Martin.
- Quintè 50, very lean, six feet four, 180 or 190 pounds, "fisher", wants to die a rich man (and does anything for it), after several actions by the shark doesn't think anymore of them as dumb.
- Larry Vaughanè mayor of Amity, handsome, in his early 50's, a trim body. maried to Eleanor Vaughan, under pressure, used to be friends with Martin.
- William Whitmanè reporter of New York Times
-Leonard Hendricksè young beginning police officer with night shift.
- Minnie Eldridgeè postmistress, in her early 70's, small, thinks the shark is a devine punishment
Outline:
I:
Tom Cassidy and Christine Watkins come out of a house and make love to each other. Christine goes for a swim, while Tom sleeps. Christine is eaten by a white shark. When Tom wakes up he goes inside, looking for Christine. He can't find her and wakes the owner (Foote) of the house: they call the police. The phone call is received by Lou Hendricks, who calls chief Brody. Brody and Hendricks check the beaches from out of the car. They don't see a drifter and so they knock on the house door. They go for a walk along the beach: Hendricks finds the body and they are all sick.
Martin Brody wants the story in the paper. He knows it is bad for summer business, but it already isn't that great now and he doesn't want to risk anything. Martin goes eating at Harry Meadows: editor of the Amity Leader. Harry doesn't want it in the paper because of calls from advertisers and owners. When Brody is back at his office he has a talk with Larry Vaughan who is the mayor. He doesn't want closed beaches. Brody thinks his partners force him.
A few days later a shark kills Alex Kintner. Brody is called. He feels guilty. At the station are: 1 Times and 2 Newsday reporters, the mother and a witness. Meadows is putting an article in his paper to cover himself. Brody goes in to comfort Mrs. Kintner, comes out and is interviewed by the reporters. Then Len comes: reporting another killing. The beaches close. Papers write the story, explaining why the 1st attack was hushed: the odds of another killing would be astronomical small and the crowd would overreact. When Mrs. Kintner comes again (after reading the papers) she gets hysterical and is deported by a doctor. Brody is phoned by Larry, who asks him what he is going to do. He sounds scared.
On Thursday Brody is watching Ben Gardner's boat. Leonard passes by and Brody tells him what is wrong: there hasn't been any action for an hour. They go out to check the boat: a cleat is removed, Ben is gone and they find a shark tooth. Back at the dock are Meadows and Matt Hooper (a man from Woods Hole, who is fascinated by sharks).They all go to the station. Brody calls Ellen (his wife) and Sally Gardner. He lets Grace Finley come over to comfort her. Brody shows Hooper the tooth. Matt confirms it is from a white shark. He can't tell why it is staying. Larry again calls Brody; he wants to know how long the beaches will be closed, because Amity is dying. When meadows and Hooper leave Brody asks Meadows to find out who are Larry's partners. Brody calls the Coast Guard station at Montauk to search for Ben Gardner's body. At home Brody tells Ellen about Hooper. Ellen wants tennis lessons for the boys, Martin does not. Martin wants to have sex, but Ellen took a sleeping pill.
II:
At her way home Ellen goes to the post office for stamps. Minnie Eldridge dislikes her. She tells the shark is a divine punishment. Then Ellen goes to the hardware store and meets Hooper. She asks him if he is the brother of David (her ex-boyfriend). He is. They talk about memories. After Matt leaves in his car she sees a very sad Larry.
Hooper thinks the shark has left, because there are fish all over, but Brody isn't that sure. Ellen wants to throw a diner party. Brody doesn't think it's a good idea (because the last party was terrible), but agrees. Invited are; Hooper, Clem and Ceci Baxter (they don't come), Harry and Dorothy Meadows and Daisy Wickers. Hooper (first guest to arrive) gives Ellen a shark tooth. Hooper fascinates the kids. Brody is generous with his own drinks. Daisy is attacking Brody verbally (at least that is what he thinks). At dinner Brody feels dizzy. After everyone has gone Ellen tells Martin he was doing awful.
The next day Ellen calls Matt and they will meet for lunch at Sag Herber. Ellen first goes to the hospital, sneaks away, changes clothes at a gas station and is first at Banner's. She goes to the lady's room and then orders a gin and tonic. Matt comes and they eat and talk about all kinds of subjects. Then they talk about sexual fantasies. They realise Matt's fantasy. At home Brody wants to know where Ellen was. She says she was at home and didn't hear the phone ring, because she took a sleeping pill.
Again on a Thursday (the day after) Brody gets a call summoning him to Vaughan's office for a meeting of the Board of Selectmen. The subject is opening the beaches for the Fourth of July weekend. But Larry only invited men who will vote for his cause. From the secretary Brody hears Wicker is lesbian and thus she couldn't have been with Matt while he was ringing him. Inside Brody asks Hooper where he was. Hooper can't account for where he was. In the heat of the argument, Brody takes a call outside the room. It is Meadows with a report on Larry. Larry is in debt to Tino Russo, because of medication for his wife when she was ill. A few months ago a company was founded. It bought many estates for low prices. The president is Larry and the vice-president is Tino. But if Amity keeps on dying, Larry looses a lot of money and he can't pay his debt to Tino. That's why he wants the beaches to open. While Meadows is telling this Larry is listening through the other phone set in the room and at a certain point he calls Meadows a liar and hangs up. Back in the room Larry orders the Selectmen and Hooper to leave. He talks to Brody and Brody will open the beaches, but with men patrolling them.
Brody goes to Loeffler's for lunch. He learns about his problems and then goes home. Sean's cat has been murdered by one of Larry's "friends" and Brody goes to Larry with the body and is outrageous.
On Saturday Brody and his men patrolled the beach (Hooper is in a boat). A man from New York and his family come to his piece of beach. They are excited about whether they're going to see a shark. On the beach are a few young people. One boy is going into the sea, because they made a bet. Then a TV crew comes around and they tape the action. The shark almost kills the boy. The man and family are disappointed, because they didn't see anything spectacular. Brody tells them to leave. While Brody is at his office with Meadows and Hooper, Bill Whitman (a reporter from the New York Times) comes in and interviews them. Bill Whitman suggests the services of Quint to kill the sharks. Brody calls Quint and they agree on a price of 400 dollars. They will start at Monday 6:00 AM and Brody and Hooper will assist. While Brody was inside he had another call: Eleanor Vaughan. She was worried about Larry and thinks Martin would know if there is something wrong. Of course there is, but Martin doesn't tell her.
III:
When they are out, a blue shark takes the bait and Brody takes it in. Quint slashes it open and puts it back in the water: a lot of other fish are attracted. Quint repeats it with a shark he catches. Hooper is shocked. Quint tells about his adventures and about his tactics. He is going to use a porpoise to catch the shark, of course Hooper is again shocked. But Brody says it's fine with him if he can save lives with that. Hooper sneers about that and they argue. The second day a swordfish passes and Quint wants to iron it, but the fish dives at the critical moment. After lunch Quint teaches Brody to shoot a beer can, thrown in the air. Hooper doesn't want to try. Then the shark comes by: it cuts through the line twice and it comes to the surface to show its face. Then a few moments later it is cruising directly for the boat, but it dives. Quint wasn't quick enough with his harpoon. Hooper starts talking about a Megalodon: probably the ancestor of the Great White: the size of these creatures varied from 80 to 100 feet. They wait another few hours, Quint takes bearings and then they go back.
At home Ellen is preparing dinner, when Larry comes in. He tells her he is leaving Amity. His wife doesn't know. After Larry is gone, Ellen thinks about what Larry had said: that she would have loved a life with him. But she realises that would have been without challenge and then realises she cherishes her life with Martin.
The next day Hooper wants to bring along a shark cage, he even wants to pay for it. But Brody doesn't want it. Hooper says to much and then Brody grasps his throat and asks him where he was last Wednesday. He says he was in a motel with Wicker and that it was awful and that Brody could go and check with her. Brody thinks of cancelling the hunt for that day, but they still go: with the cage. Quint tells Brody about sharks: he doesn't believe in smart fish. Then the triangle appears and they use the porpoise to get him to the surface. The fish disappears and it bumps into the boat. Quint drops the harpoon and the shark gets the porpoise. The hook is now straight. They wait for half an hour and than the line snaps. It isn't cut through, because the shark just jerked away. Hooper suggests to put out the cage. He takes place in it with a camera, an underwater gun and a shark's tooth. When the shark passes, Matt puts out his hand and strokes its flank. The shark attacks and causes Matt to loose his mouthpiece. He finds it, but the shark kills him. Then the shark jumps out of the water: Quint misses his harpoon and the rifle also didn't have effect. They go back. When Brody tells Ellen they'll go again tomorrow she accuses him of being egocentric (what are Ellen and the kids going to do when he dies?). After dinner Meadows knocks on the door. He has with him a copy of the Amity Leader. In it are: a note of sorrow (Hooper's death) and a vote of thanks (Meadows praises Martin).
The weather is awful when they leave. Quint has a few sheep on board to attract the shark's attention. Whitman wants to come, but isn't allowed. As Hooper isn't there anymore, Brody ladles the chum in the water. The shark suddenly jumps on the boat. Then he starts trying to sink the boat by making a hole in it. Quint hits the fish with a harpoon and gets knocked over. The fish dives, although there is barrel tied to the harpoon. The shark breaks water again and Quint strikes him again. Quint starts the boat and the shark starts following it. Again the shark bumps into the boat, Quint casts another iron and the shark dives (now with three barrels). After a while the barrels appear. They don't move. Quint gets one of the barrels and with a rope he ties it to a wrench and starts it. But suddenly the rope is coming to fast: The shark jumps out of the water and sinks the ship. Quint falls into the water and his feet get tangled in a rope. Brody is too slow with cutting it through and Quint is drowned. Now Brody also is lying in the water and the shark is slowly moving in. Brody closes his eyes and waits, but the shark dies and sinks. Brody starts swimming for shore.
Appreciation: First of all: I read this book, because of my interest for sharks. I love documentaries with nice shots of these kings of the sea. Also, I read another Dutch (translated from English) book: MEG (short for Megalodon), which made me read this one. But I didn't find this book very interesting. The first two hundred pages, the shark has been in action for just three (short) times. And after that, it is about the hunt for the shark, which isn't that thrilling either, because they have to wait a lot and the shark doesn't do much extraordinary things. I guess the movie (and the again exaggerated quotations on the back of the book) made me think, that the book too was filled with relentless terror and thrilling action. On the other hand, maybe the movie would have had more depth if the personal life of the Brody's had been included.
The most interesting character in this book was (in my opinion) Ellen Brody. She lives with a respectable man and has three kids, but still she isn't completely satisfied. She thinks about the past, rather than the future. I don't quite see why she wants to have sex with Hooper, because as is told: "she only loved him in the most shallow sense of the word" and since Martin isn't too lousy for a bit of sex…
I think it was a good move of Peter Benchley to put in the problems of Ellen and Larry, but the latter could have had a greater influence on the story/ could have been worked out better and thus would have made the story more interesting. All together I think that reading the book first and seeing the movie afterwards is preferable to the other way round. But, saddly, if I would get a second chance I wouldn't even read the book.
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