Module 6 Adventure, Sports, Mysteries, and Westerns

Revolver

by Marcus Sedgwick

Sedgwick, M. (2009). Revolver. New York, NY:  Square Fish.

As fourteen year old Sig waits for his sister and stepmother to return from town with help after his father is found frozen to death, a dangerous stranger arrives at the cabin.  The stranger believes Sig’s father owes him gold and has come to collect what he is due.  Even though Sig doesn’t know anything about the gold, the stranger continues to threaten Sig and the rest of his family if he doesn’t turn over the gold.  All Sig can think about is the Colt Revolver that is stored in the other room.  Even if Sig can reach the gun, he isn’t sure he would be able to use it to protect himself and his family. In the span of thirty six hours Sig will remember what his parents have taught him and hope it will be enough to save everyone he loves. 

Even though the setting is in the Arctic wilderness in the early 1900’s, it fits into the Western genre.  There is an abundance of suspense, excitement, and violence.  The primary conflict of the protagonist, Sig, is the moral conflicts he faces in attempting to save his family.  Through flashbacks, the reader discovers the conflicting beliefs of his mother, father, and stepmother have left him with some confusion about which path he needs to follow.  He is conflicted between using the gun to kill the stranger or to run when he gets the chance.  What he soon realizes is that sometimes there is a third path.  Hopefully, this third path will allow him to walk away with his morality intact and move him from a boy to a man.  The beginning of the story is a bit slow and can be confusing when bouncing back and forth between the years 1910 and 1899. 

As for my personal thoughts, the book is okay.  I can see the appeal to young male readers, especially gun enthusiasts.  The conflict the protagonist feels about using a gun could provide much food for thought.  The meat of the story was introduced late in the story and was quickly wrapped up in the end.  It is definitely a creative story with a great message, but the delivery was rough.  The exposition was long and difficult to get through in order to receive the reward at the end of the book.  I also think the author did a great job developing the relationships between the family members.  I didn’t want to like the father, but his tenderness with Anna, his daughter, changed my mind. I also had a hard time understanding the stranger.  Of course, he doesn’t really need to be understood, as his purpose is to present a moral challenge to the main character.  However, it might have made the character more believable if his motivation had been something other than pure greed.