HOW DOES PHILIP REEVE CREATE AN EFFECTIVE CHARACTER WITH SHRIKE?

Philip Reeve creates an effective character with Shrike by showing that he has more than one side to him. One side of Shrike is a ruthless monster who only cares about his own feelings and no one else. He also shows that he is a person who really couldn’t care less if his intended target was an old man, all shrike wanted was to kill, nothing more nothing less. But in other cases Shrike is seemingly nice character who may have feelings for others. An example of this is when Shrike didn’t take his claws out when fighting Anna Fang. Shrike also showed emotions when he was impressed by Hester’s skills to evade him when Hester and Tom were escaping from Airhaven.

When we were first introduced to Shrike he was a straight talking character who wasn’t shown into the light until later on in the stories. He was having a conversation with the mayor of London Magnus Crome. He was speaking with a dry-like voice which was only interested in no one but himself. The conversation these two had was very straight forward and plain. Shrike seemed like a person who was only here to know what he had to do. An example of this is when Shrike asked Crome what his reward would be if he was to kill Hester and Tom. The mayor answered with “You will have your heart’s desire” this desire is unknown yet but it should come out soon in the book. This could create an

Shrike’s “good” side starts to come out more when Hester tells stories about Shrike’s past. For example when Shrike found Hester in her home stabbed across then face he came up to her and said ” you can’t stay here child” He says “child” as if he was once a father and has lost everything and can’t rectify it. This could also mean that Shrike has some sympathy left inside of him and shows he has a more caring side to him. This makes Shrike an effective character because Reeve shows that even the most ruthless monsters have a sort of good side to them. This would make the reader more diverse about Shrike’s actions and how he takes them into account. This creates interest because Reeve shows that Shrike can show some sort of emotion when he wants to. This also could make the reader picture Shrike as a good person as he was kind to Hester when she was almost killed by Thaddeus Valentine. Another quote i found about Shrike’s caring is  “She went to Shrike  and told him she wanted to go after Valentine you you’ll be killed” This shows that shrike wanted to keep Hester safe and well seeing as she was half dead and had been seriously attacked by Valentine.

Shrike nastier side really starts to come out once he is in the lime light. He is shown as a fierce predator who seems like he has years of battles and assassinations under his belt. He looks like Shrike could defeat three packs of lions even if he had a broken leg. Shrike’s characteristics are: fierce, stealthy, nasty, ruthless and a person who doesn’t show any sort of sympathy for even the most wounded soldiers. Shrike can make you suffer even if he is nowhere near you. He has a presence of of fear where ever he goes and stands out when chasing after Tom and Hester in an air balloon (Tom and Hester where in one as well) Shrike was giving off a chilling gaze which was felt mostly by Tom. This creates suspense because Reeve uses his ability to use Shrike as an tense building character which could be visualized clearly by the reader. Shrike shows how much of a good hunter he is when hunting Hester and Tom in the woods.

Overall I think Shrike is the most effective character (so far) in Mortal engines because he was one of the first characters to add suspense. He was a dark and moody character in Mortal Engines. He was portrayed as a character by Reeve as person who would sacrifice his own life just to get the task done. I think Shrike would intrigue the reader more because he is someone that Reeve has used to be someone who can have one other side to him even though Shrike can be heartless. This would show the reader you should never assume a character’s personality based on their introduction.