Jonathan Stroud The Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand

1. Ryan Kreider English 212 Professor Kranc 11/10/09 Jonathan StroudThe Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand

2. Jonathan Stroud • Jonathan Stroud is a writer who specializes in fantasy book series for children. • He was born on October Twenty-Seventh, 1970, in Bedford England. • The Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand. • Question: How does this author create a particularly noteworthy character?

3. Background Info • In this world magicians are people whose power comes entirely from demons. They currently rule Britain and are the most powerful country in the world. • A demon is summoned from its realm of existence, the Other Place, by invoking spells that calls the demon’s true name. • Magicians’ birth names are concealed because if a demon discovers it then it has the power to resist that magician’s spells.

4. Passage pg. 124-125 “Perceptive readers might have noticed a new optimism in my attitude toward the kid. They would not be wrong. Why? Because I knew his birth name. Give him his due, however: he came out fighting. No sooner had he got up to his room than he put on his coat, hopped into his circle, and summoned me in a loud voice. He didn’t have to shout so; I was right beside him, scuttling along on the floor. An instant later, the small Egyptian boy appeared in the circle opposite, wearing his London gear. I flashed a grin. “Nathaniel, eh? Very posh. Doesn’t really suit you. I’d have guessed something a bit more down-market– Bert or Chuck, maybe.” The boy was white with rage and fear; I could see panic in his eyes. He controlled himself with an effort and put on a lying face. “That’s not my true name. Even my master doesn’t know it.” “Yeah, right. Who are you trying to kid?” “You can think what you want. I charge you now—”

5. Passage pg. 124-125 I couldn’t believe it– he was trying to send me off again! I laughed in his face, adopted a puckish pose with hands on hips, and interrupted in a sophisticated style. “Go boil your head.” “I charge you now—” “Yah, boo, sucks!” The boy was almost frothing at the mouth, he was so angry. He stamped his foot like a toddler in the playground. Then– as I hoped—he forgot himself and went for the obvious attack. It was the Systemic Vise again, the bully’s favorite. He spat out the incantation, and I felt the bands drawing in. “Nathaniel.” Under my breath I spoke his name and then the words of the appropriate counter-spell. The bands immediately reversed their loop. They expanded outward, away from me, out of the circle like ripples in a pond. Through his lenses, the boy saw them heading in his direction. He gave a yelp and, after a moment’s panic, found the words of cancelation. He gabbled them out; the bands vanished. I flicked a nonexistent piece of dust from the sleeve of my jacket and winked at him. “Whoops,” I said. “Nearly took your own head off there.”

6. Bartimaeus • One of his defining characteristics is his sense of humor. • Bartimaeus is also a particularly noteworthy character because he’s inhuman. As a djinni, he does have a set of morals and values but because of his alien nature they’re hard to define, making him a highly ambiguous individual. • In the human world his freewill is forfeit, if he doesn’t obey the commands of his masters they can kill him. Merely being in this world is painful to him and he has no free will of his own. Many of his masters are selfish and cruel people and he has to do unsavory tasks for them in order to survive. There’s no joy in his tasks just a kind of hopeless resignation with a lot of insolence thrown in for good measure. • He doesn’t like humans but he doesn’t go out of his way to do them harm. However, he won’t hesitate to kill some if he’s angry enough. Very rarely does he ever grow to care about a human.

7. Works Cited Stroud, Jonathan. The Bartimaeus Trilogy: The Amulet of Samarkand. New York: Hyperion Books, 2003. “Jonathan Stroud.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 8 October 2009. Web. 9 November 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Stroud> “Jonathan Stroud.” Photo. Absoluteastronomy.com 8 October 2009. Web. 9 November 2009 <http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Jonathan_Stroud> “The Amulet of Samarkand.” Photo. Listal.com Web. 9 November 2009 <http://images.hugi.is/fantasia/147954.jpg>