Essay Questions

Jack Shaftoe is an evildoer. Is this hypothesis plausible? Provide illustrations in support of your view on the same from Neal Stephenson’s The Confusion

As the novel begins, Jack is presented as being sick with syphilis, which is a sexually transmitted disease. Having been enslaved for about three years, he is a member of the “Cabal,” a group of pirates causing mayhem in the Atlantic Ocean. Jack, together with his comrades’ intercept and hijack a ship carrying gold. After Jack and his comrades travel to Cairo in Egypt, where they hope not to be discovered, Jack encounters an investor who had stolen his wife from him ten years earlier, and he thus kills him. After their ship is blacklisted in most ports, the Cabals sail to India, where they plot an escape using poisonous gases derived from urine. The gas enables them to pass through a point plagued by a malicious local gang. The Indians thus offer Jack a petty kingship position. Through these illustrations, it can be argued that Jack Shaftoe is indeed an evildoer. However, his deeds are not out of his own liking given that he has been enslaved for three years.

Eliza is a vengeful and treacherous woman. Illustrate how this part of her is brought out in Neal Stephenson’s The Confusion.

After being captured by Jean Bart in her attempt to flee to London, Eliza ends up stranded in an estate. During her time in Dunkerque, various high ranking and renowned political figures approach her seeking her investment in the innumerable wars in Europe. After her funds are drained, Eliza is left to lead a regular and standard life. When later she discovers that Duc D’arcachon stole her mother and herself, she prepares herself to seek her revenge on him. When she is almost ready, Eliza realizes that Jack murdered him on her behalf and to draw suspicions away from herself decides to marry Etienne. Eliza’s marriage to Etienne is an epitome of treachery as it geared towards drawing away suspicion on the nature of her relationship with Jack. When a political scandal ensues from which she is at the center, she emerges which riches at the end.

Jack Shaftoe is a hardworking and vengeful character in The Confusion. Is this assertion true?

Even though Jack has lost his memory and remembers absolutely nothing that happened in his life in the past three years, he does not let this fact get in the way of his work. Additionally, even though he is a slave in a pirate ship, he keeps working hard and even rises through the ranks to become a honored pirate in India. Also, he is vengeful as he kills the man who stole his girlfriend. The assertion that he is vengeful and hardworking is thus plausible.