Concrete Island by J.G. Balllard - Essay ExampleThis novel is followed by “High-Rise†and preceded by “Crashâ€. As the name implies, the book is about a Concrete island that is not a natural island but a manmade one formed by the intersection of three speeding motorways. This manmade island is a triangular section of land and is as isolated as a geographical island. The concrete island virtually traps the protagonist, the wealthy architect Maitland and stops every means of escape. The island is compared to a living thing that changes it form like a chameleon. It first gets hold of his car wrecking it up so that his one escape means gets destroyed and later grasps him, claws at him and forbids him to leave it until he himself have an upper hand on the island and thaw all its moves with the help of his intelligence and instinct. Maitland finds himself trapped in this triangular piece of land while life goes on as usual in that metro city. People even see him from their passing cars but mistake him for a bummer and refuses to stop.
