English ISU Task 4: Blog Entry #3

Reader: Zaid

Novel Title: Acceleration

Author: Graham McNamee

In the novel Acceleration, a dysfunctional family life is a social issue that is evident throughout the story. The antagonist, Scott Weber is brought up by a grandmother without any other guidance or support system. The grandmother is both physically and mentally abusive to Weber throughout his childhood. The grandmother shows him no love and treats him like a caged animal by often locking him in the basement. Weber grows to become an extremely hostile criminal. This social issue plays a major role on the plot as Weber now plans to murder a woman. In reaction, the protagonist, Duncan puts forth all of his effort to stop Weber from taking one’s life. Additionally, the author uses the social issue of a dysfunctional family to develop character Scott Weber. McNamee does this by revealing information about the character through Scott’s dreadful childhood experiences.

This leads the reader to question if Weber had been raised with proper guidance and love would he have grown to become such a person?