Without much dialogue, a novel can easily slip through a reader's fingers because they feel as though they are scrambling to put together a scene rather than sitting back and watching it play out before them. In Out Stealing Horses, Petterson uses a wide range of literary elements, with the most important of which being his imagery. The simple but effective way of describing the scenes allows the reader to sit back and become immersed in the story. After dancing in the rain with his father, it is impossible to not see the stove he describes, warming the house - "He ran his hand through his hair with the towel round his hips he went to the stove, tore an old newspaper into strips and twisted them and pushed them into the firebox, then arranged three sticks of firewood around the paper and put a match to it." (86) Although many of us have not seen an old fashioned stove in use, we can see the father building this little fire inside it and begin to feel the warmth spread through us as well. We might as well be on a rocking chair in the corner of the little room ourselves.
Another interesting technique that Petterson uses is short, concise sentences to show emphasis. On page 139, he begins the chapter, "I sit on the bench for a long time gazing out over the lake. Lyra is running about. I don't know what is happening. Something slides off me. The nausea has gone, my thoughts are clear. I feel weightless. It is like being saved. From shipwreck, from obsession, from evil spirits." Though he is skipping around a little bit, it is clear to the reader why these thoughts are going through his head and makes the reader think deeply about them as well. If he used longer statements and explained every thought, it wouldn't be as personal, or thought-provoking.
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Stacy-
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the most important literary technique that is used in the story is imagery. I like the example that you chose because it shows proof that even though you dont know what something looks like, the great use of imagery can help you picture it.
Imagery is very important. The imagery also expresses emotion along with describing the things that are nearby. I also very much enjoyed the word choice in your post stacy.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about this post is that you were able to pick up on something that none of us were able to: sentence length. Along with imagery, Per Petterson's use of choppy action sentences (much like those of Cormac McCarthy) helps create such a vivd and powerful story. It also helps us to keep up with Trond's ever changing thought process.
ReplyDeleteStacey, these are phenomenal examples. The quotes were spot on and the explanations were just as good. Imagery to me is being able to "put yourself in someones shoes and walk around in them". That's exactly how I feel with this book and if you didn't directly touch on this idea I know you were thinking it when writing this post. When someone reads a book they should always feel as though they are the main characters right hand man throughout the story. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI like your last paragraph about short sentences. The quote you used to exhibit this technique is very, as you said, thought provoking and personal. I think that the short sentences that skip around in the passage you used emphasize Trond's state of confusion.
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