The significance of a discovery is revealed in its effect on the individual, society and

interpersonal relationships and consequently generates new ideas, values and ways of
thinking. ‘The Tempest’ by William Shakespeare, ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell and
‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey exemplifies how the impact of discovery is felt in all
levels of social interaction and changes our perspective of the world.

Revealed in ‘The Tempest’, the impact of discoveries is the re-evaluation of personal

values and the discoverer’s changing views of power and relationships. Prospero’s
discovery is felt early on when Miranda and Ferdinand’s feeling for each other is
brought to life. His aside about his joy, “heavens rain grace on that which breeds
between them” signals the beginning of his transformation - he is stepping aside to let
nature take it’s course. This juxtaposes Prospero’s previous mindset, as he usually
controls the forces of nature, rather than letting it continue unhindered and highlights the
immediate impacts of this discovery. Due to this discovery of his daughter’s love, he
begins to discover his own mortality. Nihilistically, he states “the great globe... itself shall
dissolve”, beginning to discovery the unimportance of his power. The impact of
Prospero’s discovery is felt when he chooses to forgive the royal court, rather than
punish.The contrast and alliteration of “in virtue, than vengeance” underscoring the
discovery of compassion and human emotion. “Vengeance” juxtaposes his intentions at
the beginning of the play which, ironically, facilitated this discovery process. The stage
direction of solemn music, a metaphor for his power, suggesting that this is his last act
of magic and highlights his new perception of his art. Costuming is also employed to
symbolise his power - his removal of his robe indicates the emergence of a transformed
Prospero due to his discoveries. Consequently, the impact of discovers is re-
assessment of the worth of one's old personal beliefs and attitudes.

Silvey’s novel ‘Jasper Jones’ underscores that an accidental discovery of the truth can
be a negative, unwanted experience and can alter the power in a familial relationship.
Upon discovering his mother’s, Ruth’s, affair, Charlie states “I hate her. I hate her like
poison…”. In conjunction with the simile, the repetition of “I hate her” emphasises the
impact of the discovery and the strain it puts on their relationship - Ruth’s actions has
corrupted their relationship. The discovery is also the catalyst for a role reversal, as
Charlie becomes more assertive, in the dialogue of “You dug this hole, you fill it in.” The
imperative elucidates that Charlie has taken control of the relationship and acts as the
parental component, as he is now the one issuing commands. The hole motif reveals
that Ruth has ‘dug her own hole’ and cannot use her status as a parent to reverse the
effects of Charlie’s discovery. It also juxtaposes the punishment Charlie is given at the
beginning of the novel and reinforces Charlie’s power. Ruth’s attempts to call Charlie
back, but ‘there’s no venom,” demonstrating Ruth’s lack of control. The word choice of
‘venom’ also insinuates a lack of hate, contrasting Charlie’s response to the discovery

Sophie Haslam
and denoting Ruth’s change. Prior to this point, Ruth had enforced her tyrannical control
of her son and husband, much like Prospero, who dominates Miranda’s life. However,
due to their respective discoveries, Charlie and Miranda both rebel against their family
unit. Evident in the truncated sentence, “I don’t understand a thing about the world,”
Charlie’s discovery has altered the way he perceives greater society - the nature of
family, his role in civilisation and causes him to discover that people, even adults, are
not inherently trustworthy or deserving of respect. Therefore, ‘Jasper Jones’ highlights
that discoveries alter the nature and perception of a parent-child relationship,
empowering or disempowering either individual.

‘Animal Farm’ typifies discoveries of superficial objects, inventions and concepts reveal
the inherent immorality and licentiousness of mankind, therefore changing society to
value depravity and oppression. The pigs originally have the rest of the farm’s best
intentions at heart, denoted by Old Major’s speech - “The soil of England is fertile, its
climate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance... Why then do we continue
to live in this miserable condition?”. The pronoun “we” exemplifies the solidarity between
all animals, revealing how discoveries unite people. High modality confronts the
animals’ previous beliefs and inspire a renewed perspective. From this, the ideology of
Animalism is created, in which “all animals are equal”. However, Animalism’s eventual
decay is anticipated. Orwell writes that in the second commandment “‘friend’ was written
‘freind’”. The distortion of the word ‘friend’ foreshadows the corruption of Animalism due
to the pigs process of discovering of human concepts, like beds, trade and whiskey. The
discovery of alcohol, a symbol of poison and defilement, illuminates the role of man’s
inventions in the pig’s process of corruption and highlights that ‘civilised’ society isn’t as
superior as perceived to be. Caliban’s discovery of language and Elizabethan culture
transforms him into a barbarian, like the pigs. The anthropomorphism also highlights the
pig’s inhumanity; it’s no coincidence that the ruling species are pigs. The impact of pigs
discovery is manifested in their subversion of the traditional tenets of Animalism - “all
animals are equal but some are more equal than others”, which juxtaposes Animalism
in its infancy and denotes how discovery changes society. In the end, the pigs discovery
man-made concepts transforms them, becoming their original oppressors - “The
creatures looked from pig to man, and man to pig...it was impossible to say which is
which.” The repetition of “pig” and “man” allows the other farm animals to discover there
is no difference between the two species, and they have traded on master for another.
In this way, Caliban also changes masters, but then comes to discover that his new
rulers are drunken fools and no better than his old. Thus, the text illustrates that the
importance of discoveries are their ability to transform social structure for the negative,
causing the oppression of others and the deterioration of moral values.

Sophie Haslam
Discoveries have the ability to influence society, relationships and individual people,
resulting in the reassessment of previous attitudes and assumptions. As elucidated in
‘The Tempest’, ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Jasper Jones’ the impact of discovery is evident is
our perspective of the ourselves and the world in which we live.

Sophie Haslam