The only intimation of future disruption lies in the final, uncertain sentence of the first chapter-'our lives seemed secure and good'. Smiley begins with a more leisurely introduction, full of names, numbers and references, and notably a first-person narrator, who is likely to direct the reader's perception of the other characters and their actions. King Lear opens with an overheard, interrupted conversation, characters we do not know (Gloucester and Kent) talking about the king and, already, 'the division of the kingdom'. A Thousand Acres, however, draws attention to the land, and the use of the indefinite article makes this land less specific, and, as the unidentified narrator tells us in the first few lines, 'you could pass our farm in a minute'. King Lear focuses on one particular character with a title that immediately raises questions of power and responsibility. The titles of A Thousand Acres and King Lear illuminate significant differences in their authors-approaches.
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