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29-467: Live Flesh is a 1986 psychological thriller by British author Ruth Rendell . It won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for best crime novel of the year. It was the inspiration for a film of the same name by Pedro Almodóvar . Almodovar's treatment of the theme is very different from the original novel, making significant changes to the characters and plot. The novel's protagonist

58-567: A cat and mouse game. Sensation novels , examples of early psychological thrillers, were considered to be socially irresponsible due to their themes of sex and violence. These novels, among others, were inspired by the exploits of real-life detective Jack Whicher . Water, especially floods, is frequently used to represent the unconscious mind, such as in What Lies Beneath and In Dreams . Psychological thrillers may not always be concerned with plausibility. Peter Hutchings defines

87-523: A mechane (crane) was used to lower actors playing a god or gods onto the stage at the end of a play. The Greek tragedian Euripides is notorious for using this plot device as a means to resolve a hopeless situation. For example, in Euripides' play Alcestis , the eponymous heroine agrees to give up her own life to Death in exchange for sparing the life of her husband, Admetus. In doing so, however, Admetus grows to regret his choice, realizing that

116-491: A deadly bullet. A quibble is based on an argument that an agreement's intended meaning holds no legal value and that only the exact, literal words agreed on apply. For example, William Shakespeare used a quibble in The Merchant of Venice : Portia saves Antonio in a court of law by pointing out that the agreement called for a pound of flesh, but no blood, so Shylock can collect only if he sheds no blood. The function of

145-670: A group of travelers on an archaeological expedition journeys across the Sahara to find a brass vessel that Solomon once used to trap a jinn . Several books in the Harry Potter series orient around a search for a special object. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , Harry believes there is a magical stone in Hogwarts with special powers. Lord Voldemort needs this stone to bring back his body, and Harry looks for

174-523: A psychological thriller. The same situation can occur when critics label a work to be a psychological thriller in order to elevate its perceived literary value. Many psychological thrillers have emerged over the past years, all in various media (film, literature, radio, etc.). Despite these very different forms of representation, general trends have appeared throughout the narratives. Some of these consistent themes include: In psychological thrillers, characters often have to battle an inner struggle. Amnesia

203-516: A red herring is to divert the audience's attention away from something significant. Red herrings are very common plot devices in mystery, horror, and crime stories. The typical example is in whodunits , in which facts are presented so that the audience is tricked into thinking that an innocent character is the murderer. A shoulder angel is a plot device used for either dramatic or humorous effect in animation and comic strips (and occasionally in live-action television). The angel represents conscience and

232-446: Is Victor Jenner, sent to prison for shooting and crippling a police officer after an attempted rape. At his trial and afterwards he claims that his actions were unintentional and somehow provoked by his victim. But there may have been other reasons for his attack of which even he was unaware. Ten years later, Jenner is released from prison and has to find himself a new life, with the reduced resources produced by ten years' incarceration and

261-534: Is a subgenre of the broader ranging thriller narrative structure, with similarities to Gothic and detective fiction in the sense of sometimes having a "dissolving sense of reality". It is often told through the viewpoint of psychologically stressed characters, revealing their distorted mental perceptions and focusing on the complex and often tortured relationships between obsessive and pathological characters. Psychological thrillers often incorporate elements of mystery , drama , action , and paranoia . The genre

290-406: Is a common plot device used to explore these questions. Character may be threatened with death, be forced to deal with the deaths of others, or fake their own deaths. Psychological thrillers can be complex, and reviewers may recommend a second or third viewing to "decipher its secrets." Common elements may include stock characters , such as a hardboiled detective and serial killer , involved in

319-434: Is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief . However, a well-crafted plot device, or one that emerges naturally from the setting or characters of the story, may be entirely accepted, or may even be unnoticed by the audience. Many stories, especially in

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348-469: Is closely related to and sometimes overlaps with the psychological drama and psychological horror genres, the latter generally involving more horror and terror elements and themes and more disturbing or frightening scenarios. Peter Hutchings states varied films have been labeled psychological thrillers, but it usually refers to "narratives with domesticated settings in which action is suppressed and where thrills are provided instead via investigations of

377-501: Is essential to the entire story. Not all film directors or scholars agree with Hitchcock's understanding of a MacGuffin. According to George Lucas, "The audience should care about it [the MacGuffin] almost as much as the dueling heroes and villains on-screen". Thus MacGuffins, according to Lucas, are important to the characters and plot. MacGuffins are sometimes referred to as plot coupons , especially if multiple ones are required, as

406-416: Is often accompanied by a shoulder devil representing temptation. They are handy for easily showing inner conflict of a character. Usually, the angel is depicted on or hovering near the right shoulder and the devil or demon on the left, as the left side traditionally represents dishonesty or impurity (see Negative associations of left-handedness in language ). The idea of a shoulder angel and devil consulting

435-439: The giallo , an Italian subgenre of psychological thrillers, as violent murder mysteries that focus on style and spectacle over rationality. According to Peter B. Flint of The New York Times , detractors of Alfred Hitchcock accused him of "relying on slick tricks, illogical story lines and wild coincidences". The most popular Psychological Thriller Author is Jodi Picoult Plot device A plot device or plot mechanism

464-457: The characters; guilty characters may suffer similar distress by virtue of their knowledge. However, James N. Frey defines psychological thrillers as a style, rather than a subgenre; Frey states good thrillers focus on the psychology of their antagonists and build suspense slowly through ambiguity. Creators and/or film distributors or publishers who seek to distance themselves from the negative connotations of horror often categorize their work as

493-443: The fantasy genre, feature an object or objects with some great magical power, such as a crown, sword, or jewel. Often what drives the plot is the hero's need to find the object and use it for good, before the villain can use it for evil, or if the object has been broken by the villains, to retrieve each piece that must be gathered from each antagonist to restore it, or, if the object itself is evil, to destroy it. In some cases destroying

522-463: The grief of her death would never leave him. Admetus is seized by guilt and sadness, wishing to keep her or die alongside her, but held by his obligations to raise their children. In the end, though, Heracles shows up and seizes Alcestis from Death, restoring her to life and freeing Admetus from the grief that consumed him. Another example of a deus ex machina is Gandalf in The Hobbit . With

551-410: The handicap of a significant criminal record. He discovers that it is all too easy to slip back into the old one. This article about a crime novel of the 1980s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See guidelines for writing about novels . Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page . Psychological thriller In terms of context and convention, it

580-454: The help of seemingly limitless magical capabilities, he rescues the other main characters from all sorts of troubles. Likewise, the eagles in both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings perform unexpected rescues, serving both as the eucatastrophic emissary and the agent of redemption. The first person known to have criticized the device was Aristotle in his Poetics , where he argued that

609-470: The majority of psychological thrillers have happy endings. Madden stated their lack of spectacle and strong emphasis on character led to their decline in Hollywood popularity. Psychological thrillers are suspenseful by exploiting uncertainty over characters' motives, honesty, and how they see the world. Films can also cause discomfort in audiences by privileging them with information they wish to share with

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638-885: The object will lead to the destruction of the villain. In the Indiana Jones film series, each film portrays Jones on the hunt for a mystical artifact. In Raiders of the Lost Ark , he is trying to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant ; in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , Jones is on a search for the Holy Grail . This plot device is also used in the Arabian Nights tale of " The City of Brass ," in which

667-515: The object's actual nature is not important to the story. Another object would work just as well if the characters treated it with the same importance. Regarding the MacGuffin, Alfred Hitchcock stated, "In crook stories it is almost always the necklace and in spy stories it is almost always the papers." This contrasts with, for example, the One Ring from The Lord of the Rings , whose very nature

696-511: The person in the center of the dispute is a tripartite view of the divided soul, that contributes to a rich tradition involving Plato's Chariot Allegory as well as id, ego and super-ego from Freudian psychoanalysis . The difference with other views is that the shoulder angel and devil emphasize the universal ideas of good and bad. This device was humorously used in The Emperor's New Groove (2000) and its sequel, Kronk's New Groove :

725-402: The protagonist only needs to "collect enough plot coupons and trade them in for a dénouement ". The term was coined by Nick Lowe . A plot voucher , as defined by Nick Lowe, is an object given to a character (especially to the protagonist) before they encounter an obstacle that requires the use of the object. An example of a plot voucher is a gift received by a character, which later impedes

754-454: The psychologies of the principal characters." A distinguishing characteristic of a psychological thriller is it emphasizes the mental states of its characters: their perceptions, thoughts, distortions, and general struggle to grasp reality. According to director John Madden , psychological thrillers focus on story, character development, choice, and moral conflict; fear and anxiety drive the psychological tension in unpredictable ways. However,

783-404: The resolution of a plot must arise internally, following from previous action of the play. A frequently used plot mechanism in romances and dramas is the love triangle , a conflict where two characters compete for the affection of a third character. A MacGuffin is a term, popularized by film director Alfred Hitchcock , referring to a plot device wherein a character pursues an object, though

812-426: The stone first to prevent Voldemort's return. The One Ring from J. R. R. Tolkien 's novel, The Lord of the Rings has been labeled a plot device, since the quest to destroy it drives the entire plot of the novel. However, British Classical scholar Nick Lowe said: "Tolkien, on the whole, gets away with the trick by minimizing the arbitrariness of the ring's plot-power and putting more stress than his imitators on

841-405: The way the ring's power moulds the character of its wielder and vice-versa." The term deus ex machina is used to refer to a narrative ending in which an improbable event is used to resolve all problematic situations and bring the story to a (generally happy) conclusion. The Latin phrase " deus ex machina" has its origins in the conventions of Greek tragedy , and refers to situations in which

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