A9. How many try and fail cycles before the goal is met? AI
Story and structure. One line per book. Open a book for the full answer, charts and cited lines.
| Book | Genre | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Treasure Island | Thriller and adventure | Jim faces roughly six major try-fail cycles: discovering the mutiny (Chapter 10), witnessing Tom's murder (Chapter 14), escaping to the blockhouse (Chapter 18), cutting the ship adrift (Chapter 23), fighting Hands … |
| The Thirty-Nine Steps | Thriller and adventure | Hannay faces five major try and fail cycles: fleeing London (Chapter 2), decoding the notebook (Chapter 3), evading the cordon (Chapter 5), discovering the impostor (Chapter 8), and locating the spies (Chapter 9) … |
| The Prisoner of Zenda | Thriller and adventure | Rudolf faces five major try-fail cycles: the assassination attempt (Chapter 9, survives), the reconnaissance swim (Chapter 14, confirms King alive but cannot rescue), Rupert's tempting offer (Chapter 15, refuses), … |
| Around the World in Eighty Days | Thriller and adventure | Fogg faces approximately twelve major obstacles: incomplete railway (Chapter 11), suttee rescue (Chapters 12 to 13), arrest in Calcutta (Chapter 15), storm delays (Chapter 17), Carnatic departure (Chapter 19), Proctor … |
| King Solomon's Mines | Thriller and adventure | Three major try-fail cycles: Chapters 5 to 6 (desert crossing nearly kills them but they find water and da Silvestra's body); Chapters 12 to 14 (battle against Twala tests their strategy twice before Sir Henry defeats … |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | Crime and mystery | Three main try-fail cycles: Watson pursues the spy in London (Chapter 4, fails); Watson and Sir Henry chase the convict on the moor (Chapter 9, fails); Holmes and Watson set the trap for Stapleton (Chapter 14, … |
| A Study in Scarlet | Crime and mystery | Holmes has two major try-fail cycles: the ring advertisement fails when the old woman escapes (Chapter 5), then succeeds when the poisoned pills are tested and Hope is arrested (Chapter 7). No further cycles occur. |
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | Crime and mystery | Each chapter is a single case with one try-and-succeed cycle. Holmes rarely fails within a case. Chapter 5 is the exception: Holmes warns Openshaw but cannot prevent his death, showing the limits of deduction. Across … |
| The Moonstone | Crime and mystery | Franklin faces five major try-and-fail cycles: investigating the paint smear (fails, Chapter 16 to 17); searching for Rosanna's evidence (fails, she drowns, Chapter 23); confronting Rachel (fails, she reveals she saw … |
| The Woman in White | Crime and mystery | Walter attempts rescue and proof five times: investigating the anonymous letter fails (chapters 10 to 13); legal advice fails (chapter 35); Hampshire investigation fails (chapter 36); Anne Catherick's story yields no … |
| Pride and Prejudice | Romance | Elizabeth faces five major try-fail cycles: Wickham's false account (Chapter 16, fails), Darcy's first proposal (Chapter 34, fails), her letter study (Chapters 35 to 36, succeeds in belief change), Lydia's elopement … |
| Persuasion | Romance | Anne experiences five major try-and-fail cycles: avoiding Wentworth at Uppercross (fails, they meet repeatedly), hoping Louisa's accident brings them closer (fails, he appears attached to Louisa), learning Benwick is … |
| Emma | Romance | Emma experiences four major try and fail cycles: Elton rejects Harriet (Chapter 15), Frank Churchill leaves (Chapter 30), Jane Fairfax's engagement is revealed (Chapter 46), and Harriet confesses love for Knightley … |
| Jane Eyre | Romance | Jane experiences multiple try-and-fail cycles: she attempts to master her love for Rochester through painting (Chapter 16), tries to accept his courtship (Chapter 24), attempts marriage (Chapter 26, fails), tries to … |
| Dracula | Gothic and horror | The band attempts to stop Dracula through multiple cycles: searching Carfax (Chapter 19), tracing boxes to Piccadilly (Chapter 20), confronting him there (Chapter 23), pursuing him to Varna (Chapters 24 to 25), and … |
| Frankenstein | Gothic and horror | Victor faces three major try-fail cycles: creating the first creature (fails by abandoning it), attempting to create a female companion (fails by destroying her), and pursuing the creature across the globe (fails to … |
| Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | Gothic and horror | |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray | Gothic and horror | Dorian experiences two major try and fail cycles: first, he attempts reform after Sibyl's death (Ch 8) but abandons it; second, he claims reformation by sparing Hetty Merton (Ch 19) but the portrait shows no change, … |
| Wuthering Heights | Gothic and horror | Catherine Earnshaw tries and fails to have both Heathcliff and Edgar (Chapters 6 to 9). Young Catherine tries to escape Heathcliff's control three times: through Linton (Chapters 21 to 27), through defiance (Chapter 33), … |
| The Turn of the Screw | Gothic and horror | The governess attempts to force confession or proof at least six times: confronting Miles at night (Chapter 9), pressing him about his outing (Chapter 11), confronting Flora at the lake (Chapter 19), attempting to … |
| The Time Machine | Science fiction | The Time Traveller faces five major try-fail cycles: searching for the machine (Chapter 7, fails), descending into caverns (Chapter 9, barely escapes), gathering weapons (Chapters 11, succeeds), fleeing through … |
| The War of the Worlds | Science fiction | The narrator experiences multiple try-and-fail cycles: attempting to reach Leatherhead (Chapters 9 to 10), hiding with the curate (Chapters 18 to 21), searching the devastated landscape (Chapters 22 to 24), and finally … |
| The Invisible Man | Science fiction | Griffin experiences multiple try-and-fail cycles: escaping Iping (Chapter 7), controlling Marvel (Chapters 9 to 16), gaining Kemp's support (Chapters 17 to 23), executing his reign of terror (Chapters 24 to 27), and finally … |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Fantasy and children's | Alice faces five major try and fail cycles: shrinking and growing (Chapters 1 to 2), controlling size with the mushroom (Chapter 5), escaping the mad tea-party (Chapter 7), playing croquet (Chapter 8), and testifying at … |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | Fantasy and children's | Dorothy faces three major try-fail cycles: reaching Oz (Chapters 3 to 11, succeeds), killing the Witch (Chapters 12 to 13, succeeds), and returning home (Chapters 14 to 23, fails with Oz's balloon, succeeds with Glinda's … |
| The Secret Garden | Fantasy and children's | Mary faces one major try-fail cycle: she attempts to find the garden door (chapters 4 to 8, failing until the robin guides her). Colin's recovery involves repeated cycles of doubt and breakthrough (chapters 17 to 23). The … |
| The Wind in the Willows | Fantasy and children's | Toad fails four times before success: he steals a car and is imprisoned (chapter 6), escapes but is lost (chapter 8), steals another car and crashes it (chapter 10), then finally succeeds in reclaiming Toad Hall with … |
| Great Expectations | Literary | Pip faces multiple try-and-fail cycles: attempting to win Estella (chapters 8 to 44, repeatedly rebuffed), trying to help Magwitch escape (chapters 40 to 54, ending in capture and drowning), and attempting to marry Biddy … |
| A Christmas Carol | Literary | There are no try and fail cycles. Scrooge is passive, visited by spirits who show him visions. He resists only once (covering the Ghost of Christmas Past's light), then accepts each lesson and begs for change at the … |
| The Great Gatsby | Literary | |
| Heart of Darkness | Literary | Marlow faces one major try and fail cycle: he attempts to reach Kurtz believing reason and restraint will protect him, but discovers Kurtz has abandoned all moral restraint. The goal is met only through Kurtz's … |
| Kidnapped | Thriller and adventure | David faces five major try-fail cycles: escape his uncle (fails, kidnapped), survive the ship (succeeds with Alan's help), reach Alan after shipwreck (fails, separated), cross the Highlands hunted (fails repeatedly, … |
| The Count of Monte Cristo | Thriller and adventure | Dantès faces multiple try-and-fail cycles: escape attempts in prison (Chapters 14 to 20, finally succeeds); establishing identity in Paris (Chapters 25 to 50, succeeds); destroying Villefort (Chapters 52 to 111, succeeds but … |
| The Three Musketeers | Thriller and adventure | D'Artagnan and his friends face multiple try-fail cycles: three failed attempts to reach Calais (Chapter 20), Athos's capture and release (Chapters 11 to 15), Porthos and Aramis's separation (Chapters 25 to 26), and … |
| The Riddle of the Sands | Thriller and adventure | Carruthers and Davies attempt and fail to gather evidence four times: exploring channels yields nothing (Chapter 13), the prowler escapes unidentified (Chapter 14), von Brüning's interrogation reveals suspicion … |
| The Scarlet Pimpernel | Thriller and adventure | There are five major try-and-fail cycles: Chauvelin's trap at Grenville's ball fails (Chapter 14 to 15); Marguerite's first attempt to warn Percy fails when he sails unaware (Chapter 19); the storm delays her crossing … |
| The Lost World | Thriller and adventure | The expedition faces three major try-fail cycles: ascending the plateau (chapters 8 to 9, fails when bridge destroyed), rescuing the professors (chapter 13, succeeds), and escaping the plateau (chapters 15 to 16, succeeds … |
| Captain Blood | Thriller and adventure | Blood attempts escape from Barbados (fails in Chapter 6 when Nuttall panics), seizes the Spanish ship (succeeds in Chapter 9), serves the King (fails in Chapter 22 when Bishop plots his execution), accepts French … |
| Lady Audley's Secret | Crime and mystery | Robert faces five major try-fail cycles: investigating George's departure (Chapters 12 to 13, fails); confronting Maldon (Chapter 21, partial success); searching for witnesses to Lady Audley's past (Chapters 25 to 27, … |
| The Murders in the Rue Morgue | Crime and mystery | There is one main try-fail cycle: the police investigate and arrest an innocent man but fail to solve the crime. Dupin then succeeds where they failed through superior analytical method. |
| The Innocence of Father Brown | Crime and mystery | Father Brown solves each mystery in one or two chapters with no try-and-fail cycles. He deduces the truth through observation, then reveals it. The pattern repeats across 26 independent cases rather than one arc. |
| The Big Bow Mystery | Crime and mystery | Mortlake faces five major try-and-fail cycles: his alibi is questioned (Ch 2), he is arrested (Ch 9), he escapes (Ch 9), he surrenders (Ch 10), and he is convicted (Ch 10). Only Grodman's confession saves him in … |
| The Leavenworth Case | Crime and mystery | Raymond and Gryce attempt to solve the case through five major cycles: suspecting Eleanore (Chapters 2 to 13), investigating Clavering (Chapters 14 to 25), searching for Hannah (Chapters 26 to 29), examining Hannah's … |
| The Red Thumb Mark | Crime and mystery | Three major try-fail cycles: Chapters 2 to 6 (investigation gathers evidence but thumb-print remains damning), Chapters 7 to 12 (Jervis's theory about John Hornby and Juliet romance both stall), Chapters 13 to 15 … |
| The Amateur Cracksman | Crime and mystery | Raffles and Bunny attempt the Rosenthall robbery and fail when caught in a trap (chapter 5). The Velasquez theft fails when the painting proves to be a fake copy (chapter 12). The pearl theft succeeds but leads to … |
| The Secret Agent | Crime and mystery | |
| Sense and Sensibility | Romance | Elinor faces multiple try-and-fail cycles: she hopes Edward will declare himself (fails when he leaves coldly in Chapter 16), she believes Lucy's engagement is temporary (fails when Edward accepts the Delaford living … |
| North and South | Romance | Margaret and Thornton experience multiple try-fail cycles: Chapter 10 (debate fails), Chapter 24 (rejection fails), Chapter 39 (misunderstanding fails), Chapter 40 (jealousy fails), Chapter 51 (formal distance … |
| Far from the Madding Crowd | Romance | Gabriel attempts to win Bathsheba four times: proposal rejected (Chapter 4), dismissed for criticising Boldwood (Chapter 20), reconciled after sheep crisis (Chapter 21), and finally accepted after Troy's death … |
| The Enchanted April | Romance | There are no traditional try and fail cycles. The women's goal is internal transformation rather than external conquest. Each woman faces one main obstacle (duty, conscience, loneliness, past) and overcomes it … |
| The Sheik | Romance | Diana attempts escape once (Chapter 5) and fails. Ahmed attempts to send her away once (Chapter 10) and fails. Two major try-fail cycles drive the plot. |
| Daddy Long Legs | Romance | There are no clear try and fail cycles. Jerusha faces one major obstacle (her refusal of Master Jervie's Europe offer in Chapter 10) but no repeated attempts. The arc is one continuous rise with internal conflict … |
| Carmilla | Gothic and horror | There are no clear try and fail cycles. Instead, the book follows a linear accumulation of evidence and symptoms. The General's arrival in chapter 9 marks the shift from Laura's isolated struggle to collective action … |
| The Castle of Otranto | Gothic and horror | Manfred attempts his goal (marry Isabella and produce an heir) across all five chapters with repeated failures: the helmet kills Conrad; supernatural portents block him; Isabella flees; Jerome defies him; Frederic … |
| The Phantom of the Opera | Gothic and horror | There are five major try-and-fail cycles: Raoul's pursuit at the masked ball fails; the managers' safety-pin scheme fails; Raoul's midnight abduction fails when Christine vanishes; Raoul and the Persian's descent … |
| The Great God Pan | Gothic and horror | Villiers attempts to stop Helen through investigation (Chapters 3 to 5), exposure of her identities (Chapter 5), and finally confrontation with a rope (Chapter 7). All attempts fail; Helen dies by her own choice before … |
| The Yellow Wallpaper | Gothic and horror | There are no traditional try and fail cycles. The narrator's obsession escalates continuously without resistance or setback. She succeeds in peeling the wallpaper and identifying with the trapped woman. |
| The Call of Cthulhu | Gothic and horror | The narrator does not face try and fail cycles. He pursues a linear investigation that succeeds at each stage: finding papers, learning from Legrasse, verifying Wilcox, obtaining Johansen's manuscript. Success breeds … |
| The Island of Doctor Moreau | Science fiction | Prendick attempts escape or survival five times: fleeing into the forest (chapter 9), discovering vivisection (chapter 10), hiding with Beast Folk (chapter 11), threatening suicide (chapter 13), and finally building … |
| Journey to the Centre of the Earth | Science fiction | Five major try-fail cycles: water search fails (Chapters 16 to 18), separation and rescue (Chapters 23 to 26), sea voyage reversed by storm (Chapters 29 to 33), blocked tunnel requires explosion (Chapter 38), volcanic … |
| A Princess of Mars | Science fiction | Carter faces five major try and fail cycles: escape from Thark (Chapter 16 to 17, fails), survival in Warhoon arena (Chapter 18 to 19, escapes but separated), infiltration of Zodanga (Chapter 21 to 22, finds Dejah Thoris but … |
| Herland | Science fiction | There are two major try and fail cycles: escape attempts in Chapters 3 and 4 both fail when the women recapture them. The marriages in Chapters 8 to 11 fail for Terry but succeed for Van and Jeff through adaptation. |
| Flatland | Science fiction | There are four try and fail cycles: the Square tries to convince the King of Lineland (chapters 13 to 15, fails), the Sphere tries to proclaim to the Council (chapter 20, fails and is captured), the Square tries to … |
| Erewhon | Science fiction | The narrator faces one major try and fail cycle: he attempts to integrate into Erewhonian society and win Arowhena through conventional means (Chapters 9 to 21), but custom forbids their marriage. This failure forces … |
| The Last Man | Science fiction | Lionel faces one major try-and-fail cycle: he attempts to save humanity through leadership, refuge-building, and emigration (Chapters 16 to 27), but each effort fails as plague kills all companions. The cycle ends when … |
| Through the Looking Glass | Fantasy and children's | |
| A Little Princess | Fantasy and children's | Sara faces approximately five major try and fail cycles: attempting to maintain friendships while poor (Chapters 8 to 9), trying to survive hunger and cold (Chapter 15), attempting to hide the secret feast (Chapter 16), … |
| The Jungle Book | Fantasy and children's | Mowgli faces two major try-fail cycles: first he tries to stay with the Pack (chapter 3, fails), then he tries to live in the village (chapter 8, fails when driven out). His goal is finally met in chapter 7 when he … |
| Five Children and It | Fantasy and children's | There are roughly ten try and fail cycles, one per wish. Each wish is attempted, creates unforeseen problems, and fails to deliver lasting benefit before sunset resets it. The final cycle in Chapter 11 requires … |
| The Railway Children | Fantasy and children's | The children attempt to help their family through multiple acts of kindness and rescue (coal, hamper, train save, Russian help, baby rescue, Perks party) before the old gentleman's investigation succeeds. … |
| The Princess and the Goblin | Fantasy and children's | There are five major try and fail cycles: Irene tries to find her grandmother (fails, gets lost); Curdie investigates goblins (captured); Irene uses the thread to escape (succeeds but Curdie doubts); Curdie is … |
| Peter and Wendy | Fantasy and children's | Peter and the children face multiple try and fail cycles: Tinker Bell's betrayal of Wendy (Chapter 4), Hook's poisoning of Peter (Chapter 13), the children's capture (Chapter 12), and Hook's final trap on the ship … |
| The Worm Ouroboros | Fantasy and children's | There are five major try-fail cycles: the wrestling match (won but Goldry vanishes); the assault on Carcë (fails, Juss captured); the siege at Eshgrar Ogo (broken out of); the climb of Koshtra Pivrarcha (succeeds); … |
| Anne of Green Gables | Fantasy and children's | Anne experiences multiple try-and-fail cycles: her apology to Mrs. Lynde (Chapter 10), the missing brooch lie (Chapter 14), striking Gilbert (Chapter 15), the currant wine mistake (Chapter 16), the haunted wood fear … |
| Black Beauty | Fantasy and children's | Beauty experiences approximately eight try-and-fail cycles: Birtwick (success), Earlshall (failure), the accident (failure), Bath livery (failure), Mr. Barry (partial success then failure), London cab work (success … |
| Middlemarch | Literary | Dorothea faces multiple try-and-fail cycles: her marriage to Casaubon fails to provide intellectual partnership (chapters 21 to 22), her attempt to help him is blocked by his jealousy (chapter 30), her hope for Will is … |
| Tess of the d'Urbervilles | Literary | Tess attempts to confess her past at least four times before success: she tries in Chapter 28, writes a letter in Chapter 33, finally tells Angel in Chapter 34. She tries to win Angel back through letters and visits … |
| Mrs Dalloway | Literary | The novel does not follow a try and fail cycle structure. Clarissa's goal to create a perfect party is not tested through repeated attempts but through a single day's unfolding. Septimus's attempts to escape medical … |
| To the Lighthouse | Literary | Lily attempts to paint multiple times: chapters 4, 5, 10, 12, 15, 27, 30, 32, 33, 36, and finally succeeds in chapter 38. She fails or is interrupted roughly nine times before the final success, each blocked by … |
| Anna Karenina | Literary | Levin's courtship involves multiple try-and-fail cycles: rejection in Chapter 13, watching Kitty with Vronsky in Chapters 14 to 23, despair and farm work in Chapters 26 to 101, reunion and declaration in Chapters 110 to 114, … |
| Crime and Punishment | Literary | Raskolnikov attempts confession or escape five times before succeeding: Chapter 13 near the police station, Chapter 24 to Sonia, Chapter 25 at Porfiry's office, Chapter 30 full confession to Sonia, and Chapter 38 … |
| Madame Bovary | Literary | Emma cycles through five major try-and-fail attempts: the ball (temporary escape), Léon's departure (blocked), Rodolphe's seduction (betrayal), Léon's affair (growing emptiness), and seeking money (total rejection). … |
| The Age of Innocence | Literary | Newland faces five major try-and-fail cycles: persuading Ellen to divorce (Chapter 12, fails), arranging secret meetings (Chapters 14 to 15, interrupted by Beaufort), asking May to advance the wedding (Chapter 16, … |
| Silas Marner | Literary | Three main try-and-fail cycles: Silas tries to recover his gold (fails, Chapters 5 to 10); Godfrey tries to hide his secret and marry Nancy (fails when Dunstan's body surfaces, Chapter 18); Godfrey tries to claim Eppie … |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Literary | Five major try-fail cycles: Chapters 13 to 14 (rescue murderers, then escape), Chapter 16 (fog separates them), Chapter 17 (miss Cairo), Chapters 21 to 31 (con men's schemes repeatedly fail), Chapter 32 (Jim is sold … |
| Hamlet | Plays | Hamlet fails to act five times: he delays killing Claudius at prayer (Scene 10), kills Polonius by mistake (Scene 11), is sent to England (Scene 12), learns of Ophelia's death (Scene 19), and only succeeds in the … |
| Macbeth | Plays | Macbeth faces three major try-fail cycles: murdering Duncan succeeds but breeds guilt; murdering Banquo and Fleance partly fails (Fleance escapes); consulting the witches gives false confidence that fails when Birnam … |
| Romeo and Juliet | Plays | There are five major try and fail cycles: Romeo tries to avoid fighting Tybalt but fails (chapter 13); the Friar tries to reunite them via letter but the message fails to reach Romeo (chapter 24); Romeo tries to die … |
| Othello | Plays | There are four major try and fail cycles: Cassio tries to regain favour through Desdemona (fails when Othello dismisses him), Othello tries to find proof of infidelity (finds only circumstantial evidence), Roderigo … |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | Plays | |
| Twelfth Night | Plays | Stakes rise through accumulation: Viola's disguise deepens (Scene 4), Olivia's love complicates it (Scene 5), the forged letter creates a second deception (Scene 10), the duel threat emerges (Scene 12), and mistaken … |
| Doctor Faustus | Plays | Faustus faces one major try and fail cycle: he attempts to repent when the Old Man urges him, but chooses Helen instead, sealing his damnation. No second chance is offered. |
| The Importance of Being Earnest | Plays | Two major try and fail cycles. First: Jack proposes but Lady Bracknell forbids it (Act I). Second: Algernon courts Cecily but both girls reject the men when deception is revealed (Act II). Success comes only through … |
| A Doll's House | Plays | Three major try and fail cycles: Nora tries to influence Helmer to save Krogstad (fails); Mrs Linde tries to find Krogstad to retrieve the letter (fails); Nora tries to distract Helmer with the dance (fails). Each … |
| Hedda Gabler | Plays | Hedda has one major try and fail cycle: she attempts to control Lovborg's destiny through manipulation and the pistol, but he dies sordidly at Mademoiselle Diana's, not beautifully. This failure leads to her final act. |
| Pygmalion | Plays | Two main try and fail cycles. First, Eliza attempts to pass as a lady at the garden party but reveals her crude nature. Second, she tries to secure her future from Higgins but he dismisses her concerns, forcing her … |
| The School for Scandal | Plays | Charles faces two major tests: first as Mr. Premium the money-lender (chapters 7 to 9), then indirectly through the screen scene (chapter 11). Joseph faces two tests: as Mr. Premium (chapters 7 to 9) and as Stanley the … |
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