Spellman

Spellman

A private investigator known as Isabel Spellman is the first person met in the Spell Man Files. Spellman Investigations is her family’s firm in which Isabel (Izzy) is completely dedicated as a licensed private investigator. Although she is good at her job, Isabel seems addicted to earn smart reruns and opts to enter homes through windows instead of doors. Isabel is twenty eight years old and seems to have a checkered past full of excessive drinking, romantic mistakes and creative vandalism. She invades others privacy naturally which becomes the case to all the Spellmans’ and her problematic notions of femininity are a constant source of humor for the narrator. Snooping on a Spellman means being a Spellman, it is to tail a Spellman, to dig up dirt on, blackmail, and to wiretap a Spellman. There are five members in the Spellman family who include Albert, Olivia, David, Isabel and Rae. In addition to the family members there is Uncle Ray. Although lovable this family is dysfunctional and employs old fashioned tools of the gumshoe trade to work out their family issues. An all night stake out might be triggered by one family member’s sugar habit while an interrogation session in the basement of the Spellman family home could result from a teenage infraction (Houng, 2007).

Thesis Statement

There are prevalent human conditions that associate and affect the characters in the novel Spellman Files. These conditions seem to originate from the characters parents who have brought up a family of private investigators under uncertain loyalties and a lot of strictness. These conditions are involved in creating the mystery in this story.

Analysis

Some human conditions that are favorite gumshoes to readers can be drawn from the character of Isabel who lives on the margin, unwilling to assimilate into the mainstream. Both gender and family issues are addressed with directness and empathy by the twenty-first century thriller referred to as Spellman Files. Gender issues begin from the start of The Spellman Files, the first time Isabel Spellman is encountered. The book’s larger theme is prefigured by her gender confusion which is illustrated by Isabel’s commitment to clunky boots in addition to commitments of a more romantic nature. The stage for Lutz’s investigation of nuclear family and its uncertain loyalties is set by the thriller genre with its set archetypes and devices. A fuzzier picture of humanity is demonstrated by Lutz as she demonstrates family as a source of pain, but never an agent. There are some dark moments when serious issues seem to grapple in the book but Lutz never loses her light touch. The Spellman Files goes down easy similarly to Rae’s beloved sugary confections. The difference in gene expression among ethnic groups is accounted for by common genetic variants. This could probably explain why Isabel is very different from the rest of her family as a result of this human condition. The family tries to protect their individual privacy and at the same time they are overzealous in their protection of each other. The family seems to investigate each other rather than investigating regular clients which is their major problem. The family business is private investigation.

Growing up in a family of private investigators was not simple for Izzy who had to start working in the family business as a teenager. The sense of appropriate behavior for such children would be a little off. Sense of privacy is absent and there is a lot of learning of ins and outs of surveillance. This family is messed up although hilarious. The story about this family has a bit of mystery as narrated by Izzy who explains about the dysfunctional wars that came up within her family. Izzy’s mother had to put any of her new boyfriends under surveillance to scrutinize for any bad habits. The boyfriend has to be set up with a lawyer by Izzy’s mother. There are a lot crazy happenings in this family. Isabel’s brother known as David negotiates with everyone, subtle forms of blackmail or coercion which illustrates his dysfunction although he is a perfect lawyer. Rae their younger sister is a recreational survaillanceer; she is a private investigator in the making and instead of doing her homework, and follows random people. She takes crazy steps to get out of summer camp. The family has a lot of mysteries and interesting characters. Some human conditions determine the character and behavior of a person. These conditions may be influenced by the environment in which one is brought up in. For instance, these children in this story were born in a family of private investigators and thus they became private investigators via carrying on the family business. They did not choose what to be but found themselves in that situation due to their family background. Genetically acquired factors are also other human conditions that may influence the character of a person. Some traits are inherent as has been seen in the case of Rae’s family although their parents influenced their character.

Conclusion

The human conditions presented shows association to the characters and are factors that cause the characters in the novel to behave the way they do. The characters are seen to treat each other with disrespect; they are dynamic people who are very interactive. They possess love and care for each other although they are used to spying on each other in addition to being eccentric. There are scenes in the novel that are very funny and bring out the characteristics of the involved parties. For instance, in the scene where Izzy encounters with her boyfriend and at the same time she threatens to kill her sister Rae (Nath, 2010).  

Parents should let their children be whoever they aspire and dream to be. They should not be obstacles to the decisions their children make. Also the children should be given the freedom to relate with their opposite sex counterparts without being scrutinized and being spied on as the case with Isabel’s mother. On the other hand, children should emulate their parents as their role models in a positive way in order to be who they are meant to be. The love and care portrayed in the novel should be emulated by all families.