In Archer Mayor's mystery, Bellows Falls, I felt that in many ways it would be easy for a reader like myself to relate the main character, detective Joe Gunther, and the world he lives in. The mystery is set in a small town in Vermont called Bellows Falls, and I felt that it took place in a town in which I could relate to after having grown up in New England my entire life. In addition to the setting of the mystery, the time period in which it takes place is very much similar to that of which I grew up. A similar setting and time period led me to believe that the society Mayor created would be much like the one a reader like myself would have grown up in; the same ideas, the same type of people, and the same norms of society. However, after adventuring deeper into the book and the adventures of Gunther, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the characters and communities that Mayor creates were much different than what I had ever expected, or experienced, in my lifetime. Through Gunther and his experiences as a police officer working to help rid a troubled town in Vermont of drugs and corruption, I was able to use the book as a window to keep the reader's interest and to gain a new vision. I was unfamiliar with the reality of working in the legal system, and I also found it hard to relate sometimes because the characters were somewhat older than myself. However, this new vision was not only knowledge of an older generation and an unfamiliar career in the legal system; but also of a different type of community in which the people are plagued with immorality, drugs, and corruption in the legal system. As Gunther seems to put his career on hold to dedicate himself to revealing one man and saving another, Norm Bouch, and the rest of the drug stricken community in Vermont, I was able to learn about the darker side of society, and the potential for this in the legal system also. It is clear that Archer Mayor's mystery, Bellows Falls, serves as a window which gives me the opportunity to understand more about society and the darker side of a community that I never thought existed.
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