<doc.id=0112.a4>
<title> Ideology, Power and Hope: The main themes of the Collector </title>
During her time in captivity, Miranda writes in her diary about the events of the day, but also different issues that she thinks about in the days and nights to pass the time. These diary notes, put together with the parts where Caliban gives his points of view, give the reader a rather clear picture of the whole situation. In the notes from 7th of November a few themes can be recognised which have a connection to both the text as a whole and to the diary notes of this specific day.
	In Miranda's diary notes from 7th of November she mainly discusses ideology; she describes how one should live life, and what is important in life and what is not. She tells what good behaviour is in her opinion, what kind of person she is, and who she admires. I interpret this, reading between the lines, as a way for Miranda to express her hatred for Caliban. She does not write that she hates him, but she writes that she hates a category of people which we understand Caliban belongs to: "I hate the uneducated and ignorant (....) I hate all ordinary dull little people who aren't ashamed of being dull and little". Some lines down she specify what behaviour she does like; "I love honesty and freedom and giving. I love making, I love doing, I love being to the full, I love everything which is not sitting and watching and copying and dead at heart". Those things are what Caliban is taking away from her, and also what his person lacks according to Miranda. She looks down on the mainstream because of their inability to hold own opinions and go against the current.
	This leads into another theme that I consider central, and that is the power which is involved in the situation of Miranda and Caliban. In this passage she writes: "We argued - no we don't argue, I say things and he tries to wriggle out of them". This happens rather frequently; Miranda takes advantage of Calibans weaknesses as a way to amuse herself. She seems to be annoyed with Caliban and his lack of opinions, but still she tries to take up discussions. This fact can be due to that she is bored and need somebody to speak to, but it can also a way for Miranda to show that she is superior to him. Still, the most obvious power involved is the power which Caliban has over Miranda. He controls her life by keeping her prisoner, and he is able to control her attmepts to escape or hurt him by punishments and restrictions of her few liberties. She knows her existence is dependent on whether he trusts her or not. 
	 	G.P. is another person who has power over Miranda, but not as directly as Caliban has. G.P. has influenced her ideology and way of thinking a lot, and as a result he has indirect power over her. G.P. is frequently used by Miranda as a rolemodel. She consider him to be one the unfamous people "who don't lie about things, who try not to be lazy, who try to be human and intelligent". Still she knows that G.P. is far from immaculate, and sometimes she even despises the way he lives and acts. 
	However, as the text moves on, G.P. becomes more and more a symbol of life and freedom to Miranda. He is what keeps her sane and thinking of him makes her life in the cellar more bearable. G.P.'s painting makes the memory of him more concrete to her than her family and her other friends are. This fact in addition to the fact that she is in love with him in a way makes him extremely important to her endurance. She writes: "My one consolation is G.P.'s drawing. It grows on me. On one. It's the only living, unique, created thing here. It's the first thing I look at when I wake up, the last thing at night". 
	G.P. and his painting also stands for what I think is a third important theme: hope. "I've been lying on the bed with G.P.'s picture beside me. Holding the frame in one hand. Like a crusifix. I will survive. I will escape. I will not give in. I will not give in". Miranda refuses to give in and give up the hope that she will be set free, and she keeps figuring ways of escaping. Even on the last couple of pages of the diary, when she is very ill, she repeats that she refuses to give in and that she will not die.
	Ideology, power and hope are the cornerstones of this story, and I think they are the most important themes as well. Ideology is the most obvious theme in these few pages from the 7th of November, but power and hope are also distinguishable. If the story lacked one of these components, it would probably not be as credible as I think it is now.
</doc>