Have you ever read a something that was so easy to read but hard to talk about? In The Bachelors (1960) and A Far Cry From Kensington (1988), Muriel Spark presents her characters in a troubling condition. They have problems in their life such as being threatened for not paying their taxes or being prosecuted with fraudulent conversion and forgery. Spark covers ideas like the psychology of people and how they react to situations that impact their life negatively. In The Bachelors (1960), the narrative revolves around a group of young bachelors who seem normal until the readers are introduced to Patrick Seton, a spiritualist whose morals are inhumane. In A Far Cry From Kensington (1988), the readers meet Wanda Podolak, a young women who receives an anonymous letter accusing her of not declaring her income to the authorities. Spark shows her ideas of the psychology of people by using Patrick and Wanda and how they respond to situations that they are stuck in. Spark also emphasizes the feelings of betrayal, realization, and the paranoia and madness that these characters experience as a result of the abnormal circumstances they are dealt with. The events in The Bachelors and A Far Cry From Kensington that eventually cause the main characters in both novels to go insane not only show how unfortunate events can cause people to become delusional but that the actions they make not only the lives of others but their own life as well.
The protagonists in both The Bachelors and A Far Cry From Kensington are introduced to the readers as normal and who live their lives free of fear of any sort that wouldn't have a reason to be suspicious. Patrick, in The Bachelors, is a young, handsome and successful gentleman. Our first impression of him is his poise and composure but we soon discover that he is actually being prosecuted for fraudulent conversion and forgery and is under orders to report to the police daily.
