The Shift in Structure and Style of Like a Hurricane

Between the opening chapters and the next part of Like a Hurricane, there is a shift in the structure and the way that the text is presented. In the beginning chapters of Like A Hurricane, the text is written in a very straightforward, factual manner. This part of the book is fragmented and disconnected, as there are many stories that are sporadically placed between historical facts. In addition, these chapters follow a chronological pattern for the most part.

In contrast, starting in chapter four, the text can be classified more as a narrative than a historical account. It begins to shift from an episodic nature to having a storyline. The first several chapters contain various stories without much reflection whereas in these next chapters, the story starts to connect more.

In addition, in this part of the book, the text becomes more descriptive and more dialogue is incorporated into these chapters than in the beginning of the book, as evidenced by the first several pages of chapter five. There are also more side notes included in this section of the text. For instance, when discussing Richard Oakes, the statement, “Where is our leader? Oh he’s too busy partying with celebrities and reading his press clippings to bother with actually showing up here anymore” is in parentheses, which demonstrates the shift of the structure from formal and rigid to more of a narrative.

The change of structure from a historical account to more of a narrative style is observed between the first two sections of the book, and the more descriptive and detailed diction and the addition of dialogue further illustrates this shift.

~A.B.

How Bruce Changes Styles Throughout Novel

As we discussed in class when we first started reading Escape from Alcatraz, Bruce began his novel with a style that led us to believe we would be reading an account of Frank Lee Morris’s escape attempt. However, after the first chapter, the story line took a turn toward the historical perspective of Alcatraz. We read about the history of the island from its discovery to various escape attempts. Somewhat suddenly at Chapter 15, Bruce begins in on his history of Morris and his relationship with his mother and Chapter 16 begins the telling of Morris’s time on Alcatraz. I thought this was a weird turn because I had almost forgotten about the suspense he had built up about Morris in Chapter 1. The account of his escape attempt spans two chapters and is very detailed; so detailed, in fact, that I almost prefer the historical accounts of the island in Chapter s 2-14 rather than the escape story.
Originally, I had wished for Bruce to go back to Morris’s story after reading Chapter 1, but during Chapters 15 and 16, I found myself wishing for the abridged version of the escape attempt. I think Bruce could have left out some of the more insignificant details and still managed to tell the story in its entirety. Also, I think the change in writing style throughout the novel is strange. During chapters 2-14, I feel Bruce writes mostly as though he is writing a historical novel. His account of Morris’s escape is not written from a historical perspective, but rather as a dramatic or thrilling fiction novel. The sudden change of styles struck me as incongruous and I think he should have stayed with one style.

~A.R.