Lockwood And Shelter Analysis

The characters in the books Lockwood and Co., by Jonathan Stroud, and Shelter, by Harlan Coben, have many similarities in them, despite being two completely different stories. The protagonist of Lockwood and Co., Lucy Carlyle, and the protagonist of Shelter, Mickey Bolitar, are both very persistent. They both will go to great lengths to do something they put their mind to. For example, on page 86 of Lockwood and Co., Lucy states, “It was my seventh interview in as many days.” On page 3 of Shelter, Mickey narrates, “I walked over to her door and looked for a doorbell. There was none, so I started pounding on the door. It shook under the onslaught. The wood was so rough it scraped my knuckles like sandpaper.” Lucy was very persistent in getting

They do have some differences. Mickey works very well under pressure, keeping his head and figuring out what he can do. Lucy, however, when angry or in a corner will start to break down or forget things. For example, on page 151 of Lockwood and Co., Lucy says, “I gave a little cry of anger ‘Don’t be stupid. Of course I haven’t. I wouldn’t dream of taking anything that wasn’t properly… that wasn’t properly secured…. Oh.’” On page 280, Mickey thinks, “It was pretty simple: free Ashley, get out of here. I had no idea how long Buddy Ray would be gone. It could just be a few seconds.” These examples show Lucy not thinking clearly when she is stressed. Mickey on the other hand is calm in a sticky situation. The antagonists of both stories also have a few things in common. Fairfax and Buddy Ray are both willing to kill another human being. For example, on page 342, Fairfax states, “Quick now, Ms. Carlyle! Or do you want a bullet in your heart?” In Shelter, on page 281, “No! If he sees a cop car. He’ll just start killing people.” This is talking about Buddy Ray, of course. They both will kill people if they have to. Fairfax was going to kill Lucy for an object she had, and Buddy Ray would’ve killed if there were police around