Lessons Gleaned from Ken Follett's Jackdaws by Wil Hough
Published by The Penguin Group
ISBN: 0-525-94628-4
The strength of a Ken Follett espionage novel goes far beyond the elements of plot. Breathing in this one in particular reminded me of the importance of character development as the prime engine in plot movement. Too often authors focus on the super-heroic exploits of their protagonists. Even when antagonistic elements are introduced, they are set up as evil or stupid straw men for the heroes to simply knock down – YAWN. Or, often worse, the author spends way too much time developing a “family history” of every character involved in the hefty tome. This, thankfully, is not the case with Follett's well-balanced, three-ring circus of performers.
The plot of Jackdaws is simple enough. It’s a week before the D-Day invasion of NAZI occupied France. The French Underground has failed in its attempt to destroy the main telephone exchange used by the German forces. This exchange is vital to coordinating the ability of German forces, under the direction of Field Marshall Edwin Rommel, to react to and stave off the invasion of the Allied Forces. A new plan, making use of an all female team of espionage agents, is conceived. At the head of this team, code named “Jackdaws,” is Felicity “Flick” Claret. “Leopardess,” as she is known to The French Resistance, is to lead her team, disguised as a cleaning crew, into the fortified site which is also the local headquarters of the Gestapo. As a result, all “the girls” have to be fluent in French, able to jump out of an airplane, and possess specific talents such as an understanding of demolitions, telephone exchanges, or weaponry and the willingness to use them. Finding and putting together these indelicate females produces quite the motley crew to say the least.
Unbeknownst to Leopardess, former German police detective, Major Dieter Franck, has infiltrated the local Resistance cell. In charge of protecting Field Marshall Rommel’s communications infer-structure from attack, he has set a trap for her. Her capture and torture on the very eve of the D-Day invasion could lead him to other elements of the French Resistance. It is Follett’s development of his two combatants as they repeatedly act and react that creates such an intriguing battle of wits. Amazingly, Follett so develops the character of Dieter Franck that the reader cannot help but become sympathetic to his plight as he battles for his own sense of “rightness” against not only the British invaders but also against the Gestapo and its ham-handed local head Captain Weber.
As any effective antagonist should be, Major Franck is a mix of good and evil. On the one side, the Major is a master of torture with a keen insight into what will quickly break the will of his subjects. On the other hand, he hates the process of dehumanizing his victims and does so only because he truly believes in the righteousness of his cause; a chilling warning to the best of us. Despite my feelings on the matter, I found myself identifying more with Dieter Franck than with the cold-blooded hero of the story, Felicity Claret.
Felicity has her good and bad points as well. She is a passionate individual, diminutive in physical stature but huge in her resolute determination to accomplish her task despite interference from her superiors in MI6, the British Secret Service, and anything the Germans might throw at her. However, as the most accomplished British agent working with the French Resistance, she has not earned her reputation as the Leopardess without developing a cold-blooded attitude. Nor is she above applying the coup d’ grace to the head of a helpless collaborator, whether it be male or female. That we can easily surmise her mission will succeed is a foregone conclusion. However, it is the intricate dance of tactics between Major Franck and Felicity that makes the book hard to put down before its scintillating conclusion is reached. Studying how Follett balances the characteristics of these two antagonists and their supporting cast is something from which any author can learn.
Wil Hough is Poetry Editor and Graphics Editor for Rose & Thorn Journal. He earns his living as an artist/writer who lives and reads in the environs north of Chicago, Illinois.
Nice article, Wil! as usual!
Reply to this
Too often authors focus on the super-heroic exploits of their protagonists. Even when antagonistic elements are introduced, they are set up as evil or stupid straw men for the heroes to simply knock down – YAWN. Or, often worse, the author spends way too much time developing a “family history” of every character involved in the hefty tome. This, thankfully, is not the case with Follett's well-balanced, three-ring circus of performers.
Reply to this