London Fields - Free Essay

The novel London Fields by Martin Amis revolves around a murder story, and what makes the book different from others is that the murdered victim already knows about the impending death before they are killed, and the killer is already known at the beginning of the story. Nicola Six is the victim in this novel, and she seems to have the uncanny ability to predict the future, and she is understanding that she has limited time to love. Keith Talent can be regarded as a low-level thug who is mainly engaged in petty crimes, adultery, and dart game. Despite the author ending the suspense by stating the killer and the victim at the beginning of the book, Amis manages to recruit him for it is not known whether Keith is capable of undertaking a cold-blooding killing (Amis, 1984). Additionally, Nicola may have the ability to predict the future, but why would she orchestrate her death? Another character, Guy Clinch, is painted as a naïve person, but it is not clear why he would allow himself to be involved in a senseless homicide. These are the issues that Amis raises in the rest of the novel to seek answers to these questions and a reader is glued to the book until the end to find out the feedback on these matters (Amis, 2011). Various themes of consumerism and consumer culture are raised in this book.

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Social Inequality

One of the themes that are highlighted in the field of consumerism is inequality, and this is triggered by the way people spend their lives, money and the persons that they interact with when they are undertaking their normal daily activities. Social inequality and class system in society are issues that are prevalent, and it becomes difficult to regain consciousness, and Talent is one of the characters that is significantly getting affected by the lack of balance in society. However, Keith does not seem to get bothered by the inequality even though he is faced with the predicament every morning when he arises. The issue of class in society leads Keith to enlist the help of a third person named Guy when dealing with Nicola (Ashley, 1987). However, after reading the book, it becomes clear that social classes should not be allowed to define people and the destiny for people from various walks of life can have something in common that can bring them together.

The issue of social inequality emanates from the ideology of consumerism and it cuts across other aspects, such as racism that is prevalent in this novel. In the novel, the characters are portrayed as an anti-working class with the case of racist stereotypes painting a bad image of the society in London Fields. Based on the details highlighted in this book, the implied readers are white, they belong to the middle class, and they are male. It is an indication that any person that does not subscribe to the negative concepts of female, working-class, and stereotyping of black characters is likely to find the issue raised in this novel as offensive (Campañón, 2004). The representation of gender by Amis is clear, exposing the author's sexism as a way of portraying the thinking of the London Fields society. The book dehumanizes the characters in it, and this should be taken as a way of postmodernism but rather a concept that is being used by the writer to create the image of a society that is not working together.

Criminality

The idea of consumer culture revolves around the idea of attaching a given lifestyle in a capitalist society, and this can be realized through the use of money. However, in some societies, the flow of capital is minimal, and individuals results in crime to make their ends meet. Many things concerns crime, for it is possible to note that there are cases of pornography, violence, gambling, theft, and alcohol. Talent is the character that is sadly involved in criminal issues, for it seems that the person has a negative attitude. It seems that crime is his hobby, and it is crucial to note that the character disregards the advantages and opportunities that befall a modern criminal. Keith does not seem to have adequate time to engage in activities, such as visiting restaurants, gyms, take trips abroad or visit bestsellers, and this is worrying, for the life that he is leading will damage his future. Talent is assigned the duty of killing Nicola even though fate changes all issues, and it is clear that the theme of criminality portrays the real ego of people when their primary desire is to engage in crime.

The issue of consumerism leads to the completion, for the minimal recourses available, causing conflicts. It is worrying to note that all the characters in this novel are insecure, and they seem to be neurotic, and they do question their sanity. Their inability to communicate with each shows that society is not in harmony and the people living in it are likely to have significant competition for the few resources available. The rising cases of violence show that the elements of consumerism are adversely affecting the affairs of the London Field’s society. Consumer culture revolves around the utilization of money to earn a living and survive in a capitalist world. Keith’s life revolves around the process of using money to manage to pay the game of darts, and this is combined by the glamorous world of television. He combines his gaming with adultery, which is another way that the character decides to spend the available funds. Keith is part of the working class, and much of his funds are utilized on women rather than invest in more economic activities. Additionally, engaging in pornography is another way that depicts how Keith uses his money. An individual that lacks funds cannot participate in this act, for they all require some form of funding to run, and this is how the character runs his capitalist life.

Children's Upbringing and Lack of Care

The upbringing of children is another theme that is related to the idea of consumerism, and in this novel, they are regarded as royal emperors and prisoners. In this case, the focus is on Marmaduke, Guy’s son, who is portrayed as a real tyrant. Guardians must ensure that they are fostering their children with love and affection, and if they fail to do that, there is a possibility that their young ones will become ill-mannered. In a capitalist economy, people rely on their resources that they have generated for consumption, and if a person is not working hard enough, they are likely to experience a decline in consumption levels, making them lead a poor life. Families might be disintegrated when there is not enough food at home. Guy abandons his family, and if this had not happened, there is a chance that he would have managed to lead a better life, impact the family positively and he would have become a resourceful person. Children are “royal prisoners,” vulnerable, and there is no need to treat them with cruelty. Before he became a father, it was difficult to realize the number of children that were around him, but after parenthood, he seems them to be different. He views some of them to be threatening, others are terrible, woeful, and fearsome, and it is clear that these royal prisoners tend to engage in activities that their seniors are doing.

The issue of consumerism triggers the occurrence of undesirable problems in society, and the vulnerable persons are the ones that are mostly affected by these occurrences. Keith is one of the characters that is preying on the weak and helpless. He is shown as the representation of the people that are insensitive in a working-class category. He only agrees to marry Kath, for she is teaching him how to write and read and gets her pregnant. Additionally, she is infected with a venereal ailment, and this is attributed to the unethical ways that are taken by Keith and his insatiable desire for sex. It is worrying to note that Keith later ignores her, and later, when a young girl is born, he names her Kim and then abandons her. He even fails to allow Kath to ride in his car, and this shows that he is a person that is preying on the weak on society, using them, and later leaving them at the point of need. The theme of children upgrading is prevalent in this novel, and it shows that the young ones are experiencing tough life.

Dystopia

The issue of consumerism triggering the occurrence of theme of dystopia in the novel, London Fields considering that the advancement in technology had a significant effect on the activities that were happening in society. Some of the technological growth effects created chaos in society and people became affected by these outcomes. The main plot of the novel revolves around the murder of Nicola, who manages to foresee her death but does not take any action. The society seem to be inclining towards the totalitarianism ideology and the issue of ensuring that a community is homogeneous is causing members to engage in absolute conformity.

Pub Culture Theme

Another theme that is raised in this novel is the public culture, and it relates to the concept of consumer culture in a great way. Keith is the main character that is directly affected by the culture of visiting pubs for alcohol and women. The process of using the money for such expenses is not offering Keith any benefits, and it only seems to destroy his life. When living in such a lifestyle, he engages in petty crimes to the extent of even getting to kill others. The free lifestyle adopted by this character tends to have adverse effects on the lives of others, for he is destroying other peoples’ homes. He has several ladies that he is sleeping with, and this means that some households are having conflicts due to Keith’s behavior (del Valle Alcalá, 2019). Additionally, he marries a woman to teach and train him how to read and write, makes her pregnant and abandons her together with the newly born baby girl. The consumerism concept taken by Keith is one that leads to destruction, for there is no activity that this character is undertaking that is offering any benefit to his life or the community in general.

Globalization and Western Civilization

The novel London Fields portrays the theme of western civilization and globalization in various ways through the acts taken by the different characters in this book. The globalization concept revolves around businesses developing internal influences to ensure that they are managing to transfer their commodities in a capitalist economy. The idea of western civilization is shown through the protagonist of the various characters in this book that are from different social strata. The ides of consumerism is an element that is intertwined with globalization that calls for the transfer of commodities from one part of the world to another for capital gain (Bényei, 2006). Guy is one of the characters that is involved in business activities after taking over the family business, and it is worrying that he becomes a target for con-artists, criminals, and sociopaths, and it is only his vast financial resources that enabled him to keep his life running.