Jack Maggs is a text obsessed with writing and rewriting. When Maggs agrees to allow Oates to mesmerize him every day for a fortnight he stipulates, "I won't have nothing written down," thus manifesting a deep suspicion of the written text. There are multiple narratives in play in the novel, and each narrative has multiple layers. Maggs is afraid not only of exposure to the authorities, but also of having his story stolen.

Whilst Oates keeps two sets of books in a bid to outwit the convict, Maggs writes his own version of events in invisible ink so that the story of his life may only be read by Henry Phipps.

Passages from Oates's work in progress, The Death of Maggs, are interspersed with Carey's narrative and Maggs's own version of events. It is therefore, at times, somewhat confusing for the reader who is required to tease out...