Most of us have read/watched Paddington. Part of his identity is his penchant for a marmalade sandwich he keeps in his hat. Since the sandwich comes in handy at the end when he throws it towards the explorer's daughter and the pigeons go after it toppling her to her death, I was wondering is this is a plot device ? Or deux au machina (sp?) . Just learning the craft, sorry if its too basic a question to ask. Any pointers would be most appreciated.
I'd say plot device. A deus ex machina (no autocorrect, I do NOT mean machine! And didn't I turn you off a while ago?) would be it if suddenly showed up out of nowhere. But it was set up earlier as a habit of his. My mom used to read Paddington to my sister and I when we were kids, though we're American. Of course we also had Winnie the Poo on the tv.
Paddington the bear? Why'd he want to whack the explorer's daughter? Sounds kind of morbid--albeit, gangster--but I don't know much about the series.
The sandwich is a plot device, but the pigeons might be a deux ex machina. It depends whether they were free range. I don't remember any fatalities in the book, but this type of scene is usually to make sure there is no blood on the protagonist's hands at the end of the story, and the pigeons might represent divine judgement of the antagonist
