How Does Golding Make This Passage Tense And Powerful? :: English Literature:

How Does Golding Make This Passage Tense And Powerful? Golding uses many techniques to make this passage tense and powerful by using language and the content of the passage. He uses many types of imagery and dramatic language throughout the passage as well as changes in pace and many different sorts of sound effects. The most conspicuous means Golding has used to make this passage very powerful is the content. He implies that someone has died in this passage, which evokes many feelings among readers because death is such a disastrous occurrence: "That little 'un had a mark on his -face -where is -he now?" The way Golding has portrayed the death is particularly effective because it is not definite that the boy has died and not knowing something is more tense than knowing something. Also the boy didn't die in the book, meaning all we have is the reactions from the boys and what they say, instead of knowing exactly what happened we are left to think about it on our own, using our own imagination. The imagery that Golding uses in the passage is very descriptive and unsettling. He uses personification, similes and metaphors: "Tall swathes of creepers rose for a moment into view, agonized, and went down again." Here Golding has used personification to depict the plants. This shows how the boys are starting to see things and get very paranoid of their surroundings. The plants seem to be coming to life, which is very unnatural and disconcerting. "One patch touched a tree trunk and scrambled up like a bright squirrel." This is a simile, describing the fire to be like a squirrel, which seems really strange but also very subtle and powerful. Golding has portrayed to very different things: an innocent squirrel and a lethal fire. This makes the fire appear quite harmless; therefore highlighting its danger even more when we find out it has killed someone. "The drum-roll of the fire" --------------------------- The metaphor Golding has used here is repeated several times in the passage. Later he just says, "drum-roll" instead of fire. This is effective because a drum roll is a powerful and steady sound, very distinctive and of importance. Although it doesn't sound like a fire it is very significant like the fire is in this passage. Also the thought of a growing drum-roll going on during this passage builds up much tension. In this passage Golding doesn't just use the boy's speech to convey