The Vision Essay Example For Students

The Vision Essay The Vision by Dean Koontz Most people are skepticalabout psychics and psychic powers. In the book The Visionby Dean Koontz, there arises a real convincing psychicMary, who has visions of murders that are yet to happen. But, a new twist to the story causes Mary to see a differentkind of vision. Murders more gruesome than ever. Moredifficult to see. Harder to pursue. All these factors cause thereader , and possibly be someone she loves? Or maybe ahaunting truth about the past. The story takes place invarious locations of modern day California. Some of thestory takes place in Los Angeles, but the most momentouspart of the story takes place in a little town called KingsPoint. The town is on the Pacific Coast Highway, andexpensive houses dot the shoreline. Pertaining to the visions,Dean Koontz vividly describes the scene of each of them, asthey take place. For example, he takes the reader to one ofthe scenes of a murder. A small beauty shop in Santa Ana,California. He forces the reader to picture the variousaspects of a normal beauty shop, such as, the exterior. Theneon lights, the palm tree, the jade-plant hedges, and themoney-scented air. He informs the reader of the scent of theshampoo, cream rinse c ologne, and perspiration. He tellshow the floor was covered in air, and the purple color of thewalls, and the plush purple carpet. He describes the soundof the hair dryer and the gunshot in which the murderer shotthe cashier. As one can see, the author thoroughly describesthe setting. The main character is of course, Mary Bergen. She is the author of a syndicated newspaper column aboutpsychic phenomena, and the one who pursues the visions inwhich the murderer creates. The true identity of the murdereris not clear until the end of the book. Max Bergen, Maryshusband, and Alan Tanner, Marys brother, each try to helpMary pursue her visions to catch the killer, and to freeMarys life of the horrible stress that encompasses her. ButMax and Alan dont get along very well. Alan feels thatMary could of picked a better man to marry, because hebelieves that all Max is after is Marys money, and that Maxdoesnt really realize how fragile she is. Max knows howAlan feels, but obviously disagrees. Max is pretty a strongman, six inches taller, and forty pounds heavier then Alan. Although Max had promised Mary that he would neverphysically fight another person, he feels a strong need to fightAlan, but knows that wont stop him from being so arrogant. Alan on the other hand, can easily persuade people with hissweet voice, and pleasing appearance. There is also Dr. Cauvel, Marys psychiatrist, and Lou Pasternak, one ofMarys old friends. Cauvel desperately tries to link Marysvisions to the past. Pasternak, an alcoholic journalist, helpsMary and Max try to find the killer, and stop him. MaryBergen, the well-known psychic, has unfortunate visions ofmurderers killing their victims. One day, a terrible visionappears with no warning, And from then on, these vision areeven more macabre than her usual visions, and they alwaysprevent Mary from seeing the killers face. This puzzlesMary, so she goes to her psychiatrist Dr. Cauvel, to seeksome answers. He tries to delve into her past and unveilsome truths. She was abused as a child by one of herneighbors, who supposedly killed all of her brother Alanspets. And her father died when she was really young. Marydoesnt clearly recall any of the abuse she experienced. Allshe can really remember is the flapping of a lot of wings,those of like a bird. She often has visions of just the wings,and it is an enigma which severely frightens Mary. All sheknows, is the wings relate to her abuse. Considering thatMary has blocked this part of her past out, Cauvel believesthat her abuse is what caused her to start having thesevisions. That same day, a vision comes to her. As she tries topursue the vision and see the killers face, hundreds of glassdogs that the Doctor had collected, flew off the shelves, andat Mary. Scared and confused, Mary later looks for comfortin Max. He of course comforts her, and tries to help solvethe mystery. He takes her to Kings Point where the nextmurder is to take place and to meet with Lou, who helpsthem by having a seance to