Perspective

Over the course of August to now, a novel by the name of “A dirty Job,” written by author Christopher Moore, was given as a reading assignment at school. The novel shares the story of a man named Charlie Asher, who is hired by darkness, to collect souls from the dying, only to place it in his collection, repeat.

In “A dirty job,” Moore continuously uses a variety literary devices in his novel. One of the largest or most commonly used are allusions. This term refers to imagining or referencing a person, place, or thing to a cultural or historical significance.

Throughout the book, Moore consistently expresses Charlie Asher as the beta male of the story. Indicating Asher is a man who’s scared of his own shadow. His appearance to the public is of course masculine but personality wise resembles one of a female. Unlike the average adults in our society who are perceived as highly mature and responsible for their actions, Charlie Asher seems to be the childish type and needy of assistance with managing his life.

Photo by ambroochizafer

I feel that Moore purposely placed Asher under the beta male spotlight to decrease the risks he could possibly face as an Alpha collecting souls. According to ToBeAlpha, Betas are usually humble, more aware of their surroundings, and known to be the “Nice guys.” Therefore Asher, doesn’t risk his life and the lives of his loved ones by acting vain or disrespecting his victims during his job and “screwing” it up.

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The dirty job doesn’t just collect souls, but also, unnoticeably, invites creatures from the “underworld.” Moore used ravens as a creatures to be stalking Asher and the actions he makes while on duty. Ravens are usually known represent death. They are present when someone or something has died or dying. In the book “A dirty job,” Moore gave the ravens the ability to talk and express their thoughts or emotions toward Charlie and other characters in the story. When talking, the ravens almost always sticked closely to the topic of death and killing certain people in novel. Whispering to one another how they would plot the death of Charlie Asher and kill his daugther, Sophie.

Photo by pohjakroon

What’s in for Sophie?

Thanks to her wonderful father, Charlie, Sophie recieved two charming but vicious looking Hellhounds. The type of animal or creature that we presume or have the allusion to be dark and extrodinary to killing has been sent to the “real world” to serve as bodyguards to Sophie. This way no living or non-living thing can approach sophie in effort to hurt her. Christopher Moore most likely added these two creatures to protect Sophie while adding more danger to her father on duty.

However, one small yet large aspect of these Hellhounds is the choice of names. Moore named one of the hellhounds, Muhammad. To me, it’s unclear why the name was chosen. In the muslim religion, Muhammad, is specifically used for muslim men and forbidden to any animal or pet. Therefore, in my opinion, Moore had a “not so great” encounter with a Muslim or has something against the religon that he indirectly showed his anger through his writing

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Photo by geralt

The perspective the world takes onto depression expresses an allusion of sorrow and loss. An image that comes to mind when the topic, depression, is brought up, I imagine a dark and gloomy world were prayers are made and signs of hope are non-existent. The allusion to depression in a real-world situation would most likely be used this way; “the event of grandmother death due to lung cancer has caused me to enter the state of depression and loose myself.”This allusion expresses how my emotions and the way I handle my life, to plummit downhile to the point where I can no longer take care of myself.