Stranger Than Fiction: Story Of An IRS Agent: Harold Crick
Patrick Macdonald
Mrs. Love Hilliard
Creative Writing
8 April 2016
Stranger Than Fiction Essay Stranger Than Fiction is the story of an IRS agent, Harold Crick, who lives his life by the clock, without engaging, just observing and counting. When he starts to hear a narrator, Karen Eiffel, in his head, he starts to change. After the narrator says, “little did he know” he is facing imminent death, Harold seeks help from a literary critic, Jules Hilbert, who explores the story (his life) with him. Meanwhile, the crazy and nearly suicidal author is consumed by the search for the perfect way to kill Harold. But there is a deeper level to this plot. This movie really explores the way fiction takes on a life of its own. Harold, representing …show more content…
When Harold finds out that Karen is his narrator, he hunts her down to try to convince her to change the ending of the story. Karen becomes tormented by the knowledge that her stories are real. Up until this point, Karen’s writing has been influenced by her own personality. She is nearly suicidal herself, standing on the side of buildings for death research and chain smoking. She always kills her main character, because she always sees life as a tragedy. She tries to get inspiration for her writing from observing death. Her ordinary everyday experiences lead her to extraordinary inspiration. She sees an apple roll into a gutter and finally figures out how to kill Harold.
After Harold tracks her down, Karen’s greatest writing inspiration comes from Harold himself. After reading the original ending of the story, Harold agrees with Jules and decides he must die in order to save a boy from getting hit by a bus. This act of courage influences Karen to change the end of the story. She says that if Harold “dies willingly, knowing he could stop it, isn’t that the type of man you want to keep alive/” Her character inspires her. Not only does she change the story, but also she no longer has such a tragic outlook on
Mrs. Love Hilliard
Creative Writing
8 April 2016
Stranger Than Fiction Essay Stranger Than Fiction is the story of an IRS agent, Harold Crick, who lives his life by the clock, without engaging, just observing and counting. When he starts to hear a narrator, Karen Eiffel, in his head, he starts to change. After the narrator says, “little did he know” he is facing imminent death, Harold seeks help from a literary critic, Jules Hilbert, who explores the story (his life) with him. Meanwhile, the crazy and nearly suicidal author is consumed by the search for the perfect way to kill Harold. But there is a deeper level to this plot. This movie really explores the way fiction takes on a life of its own. Harold, representing …show more content…
When Harold finds out that Karen is his narrator, he hunts her down to try to convince her to change the ending of the story. Karen becomes tormented by the knowledge that her stories are real. Up until this point, Karen’s writing has been influenced by her own personality. She is nearly suicidal herself, standing on the side of buildings for death research and chain smoking. She always kills her main character, because she always sees life as a tragedy. She tries to get inspiration for her writing from observing death. Her ordinary everyday experiences lead her to extraordinary inspiration. She sees an apple roll into a gutter and finally figures out how to kill Harold.
After Harold tracks her down, Karen’s greatest writing inspiration comes from Harold himself. After reading the original ending of the story, Harold agrees with Jules and decides he must die in order to save a boy from getting hit by a bus. This act of courage influences Karen to change the end of the story. She says that if Harold “dies willingly, knowing he could stop it, isn’t that the type of man you want to keep alive/” Her character inspires her. Not only does she change the story, but also she no longer has such a tragic outlook on