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<title> The few and the many </title>
The Collector is a fascinating book written by John Fowles. The story is about Frederick Clegg, a collector of butterflies, who is obsessed by Miranda, a young art student. One day he 'collects' her and keeps her as a prisoner in the cellar of his house. Miranda starts to write a diary, where she writes down what is happening, her feelings and memories from her life. In her diary she mentions G.P, a man who has influenced her a lot. I am going to look closer at a few pages of her diary, from the 7th of November, and discuss the theme of the book.

Miranda believes that there are two types of people in the world: the few and the many. The few are the people who are dealing with living things, for example doctors, teachers and artists. They are the ones who care and have to carry it all. The hope is with them. The many are people with great deadweight of pettiness, selfishness and meanness of every kind. They are the silly ones and the snobbish ones who think of themselves as the 'right' people. They live in their own world without caring for anybody else. Miranda describes them as those who have holidays in the Ivory Tower. The theme in this book is the conflict and the gap between these two groups of people.

There is also a gap between Miranda and Clegg. She thinks that she is one of the few: "I'm one of them. I feel it and I've tried to prove it", and that Clegg represent the many. He gets on the back of everything vital, everything trying to be honest and free, and he bears it down. He is only dealing with dead things, his butterflies, his photographs etc. Miranda has also been part of the many, when she was attending Ladymont. In her diary she writes: "I'll never go back to Ladymont. Because I couldn't stand that suffocating atmosphere". Since she is now part of the few, she feels some kind of responsibility towards Clegg. She wants to change him and make him a better person. Miranda gives him The Catcher in the Rye because she thinks he will be able to identify himself with the main-character. "He doesn't fit anywhere and you don't." "He tries to construct some sort of reality in his life, some sort of decency", Miranda explains. Miranda is trying to be the link between the few and the many but her attempt to help Clegg fails. He does not like the book and does not understand it. The gap between Miranda and Clegg remains unchanged and so do the gap between the few and the many. Miranda writes: "they all hate us, they hate us for being different, for not being them, for their own not being like us". She claims that the many avoid having to take notice of the few and respecting them.

The lack of respect is due to the lack of interest. The many are only interested in themselves and in money. They are the New People as G.P calls them. They have money, cars, and tellies and imitate the bourgeoisie. "Money is power" (p. 24) Clegg claims. Maybe that is why he has kidnapped Miranda. He wants, just like the many, to feel like he is the one in charge. The many are materialists: "corrupting everything. Vulgarizing everything. Raping the countryside /.../ Everything mass-produced. Mass-everything". The many have created the society we are living in. The few are supposed to face the heard, work for the many and tolerate them. The most despicable thing is, according to Miranda, "to choose to leave life because it doesn't suit you". That is why the few keep on struggling. Although the New People are wealthy they are still the poor people - they have not any soul, G.P says. G.P is the one who has influenced Miranda. He belongs to the same band of people who have to stand against the rest, as Miranda. They are the people who try not to lie or being lazy. They try to be human and intelligent. They also have weak moments, with holidays in the Ivory Tower. "But a part of them is one with the band. The few."

The theme of the book The Collector is the conflict between the few and the many. Miranda believes that the world is divided into those two groups. Hers and Clegg's conflict is due to the fact that she represents the few and he represents the many. Miranda tries to overcome the gap between them, but she fails. The many with their money and their power always win. That is a fact in the end of the book. No matter what the few do, they finally have to give in. That is what Miranda has to do. And in the bitter end the only thing remaining is hate - hate for being different.
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