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<title> The Main Theme of "The Collector" by John Fowles </title>
The main theme of "The Collector" is the matter of being passive and lack determination, in contrast to doing and feeling things with all your heart. The novel states that it can be just as harmful to do nothing as it is to do something "bad". 
	 In Miranda's diary entry dated November 7th the themes are made very evident. She starts telling about G.P's drawing that she has in her room: "It's the only living, unique, created thing here." (p. 205) Miranda herself is not living, she is dead; she is not unique, just a bad copy. She is as dead as one of the butterflies in Ferdinand's collection. The same day Miranda also writes: "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." (p. 207) Then, Miranda starts thinking about when G.P. had been laughing at her being Labour; the party that brought the New People into existence. She had told him she had rather they had the New People than poor people. Nowadays, her view on the subject has been fairly modified: "But I see what he feels, I mean I feel it myself more and more, this awful deadweight of the fat little New People on everything..." (p. 208) Miranda does not come with any thoughts of her own, she just copies G.P."s ideas. Later on in the novel Miranda actually comes to that insight herself. She quotes her own statement that she wrote on November 7th: "I love making...". Then she makes the observation: "But I"m not being to the full at all. I'm just sitting and watching. Not only here. With G.P." (p. 237) Her passivity "here", as prisoner, is also clearly shown in the book. Superficially it could seem like Miranda is trying very hard to escape. She thinks all the time that she has to do it and she tries several methods to get in contact with other people and to escape. However, a juxtaposition in the text shows something different: "Tomorrow. I must act now." (p. 239) Also, when she makes an attempt to escape she does not do her utmost. For instance, when she is about to knock Ferdinand out with an axe, she suddenly hesitates and then she fails: "I had to hit him and I couldn't but I had to.... But he was turning and I didn't hit straight. Or hard enough. I mean, I lashed out in a panic at the last moment." (p. 227) What is also interesting is that she uses the blunt end of the axe, she never seem to consider using the sharp end or killing him: "I had to catch up the axe and hit him with the blunt end, knock him out." (p. 226) Miranda also decides that she is going to dig herself out. However, she gives up as soon as she sees that behind the stones there is solid chalk. In addition, she does not plan very well where to start digging. She starts on the most obvious place where he is bound to discover it. Ferdinand, of course, sees it immediately and cements back the stones again. This lack of determination will have a disasterous result. It will be her death. 
	 In the diary entry dated November 7th Miranda also writes down a dialogue between her and Ferdinand. Ferdinand has just finished reading The Catcher in the Rye. Miranda had thought he would feel identified with Holden Caulfield, the main character of the book. She tells Ferdinand that he does  not fit anywhere and neither does Holden Caulfield. Ferdinand answers: "I don't wonder, the way he goes on. He doesn't try to fit." (p. 205) Ferdinand does not see that why he himself does not fit in society is because, as Holden, he has not tried to either. That insight is given when Ferdinand is talking about his previous life: "Old Tom and Crutchley, who were in the Rates with me, and some of the girls clubbed together and did a big one and they were always going at me to join in, but I stayed the lone wolf." (p. 12) Miranda wants to make Ferdinand reevaluate and change his life. Once when they are discussing nuclear disarmament Miranda says: "I don't think the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has much chance of actually affecting the government. ...But we do it to keep our self-respect, to show to ourselves, each one to himself or herself, that we care... We're trying to shame you into thinking about it, about acting." (p. 135) At the same time this reasoning applies to Miranda herself. That she has to try escaping to keep her self-respect. However, as mentioned above, if she really is aware of that and tries that hard, could be discussed. Once Ferdinand tells you: "I read in the paper today (Saying of the day) - 'What Water is to the Body, Purpose is to the mind.' That is very true, in my humble opinion." He realizes that to accomplish something you have to have the force, the determination. Unfortunately, the only thing he manage to go through with, is the planning and kidnapping of Miranda. Both Miranda and Ferdinand come to important truths about life. However, they have it hard to relate and apply any reasonable argumentation to their own entire lives. As Miranda says "He doesn't believe in any other world but the one he lives in and sees. He's the one in prison; in his own hateful narrow present world." Neither Ferdinand nor Miranda have any distance to themselves and are therefore unable to do something constructive; to try to change their way of living.
	 The passivity of them both is what determines the end. Miranda dies of pneumonia. Which, ironically, is an illness that is easy to cure, but will have a fatal result if you do nothing about it. When Ferdinand realizes she is dying he decides to get a doctor. However, he is not very determined and let all sorts of silly things stop him. After she is dead he tries to convince himself that there was nothing he could have done. As if he had just been watching everything happen and has no part in her death: "It was not my fault. How was I to know she was iller than she looked?" (p. 110) "I also thought that I was acting as if I killed her, but she died, after all. A doctor probably could have done little good, in my opinion. It was too far gone." (p. 281) Ferdinand thinks he cannot help what happens in his life. He is just a victim of the circumstances. With that attitude he can do anything with a clear conscience; he just put the blame on everything else. However, the result is the same. It is just as dangerous to ignore problems as it is to intentially do something evil.
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