Response to Passage #1

Depth

            Jeanette Winterson, in her book The Battle of the Sun, has a very unique writing style, which she uses to establish meaning and to communicate her purpose. She incorporates wonderful imagery to create a picture for the reader and also to provide a tone for the scene of the novel. Her usage of punctuation and syntax serve to give the reader the fullest experience while reading her novel. The dialogue used shows the culture of the people and that the time period that they lived in. All of these combined create a perfectly woven story that the reader can’t stop reading.

            The rising action of the novel begins with, “Two men, short, hooded, black boots, black cloaks, black hats, were waiting either side of the water-gate.” (7) Not only does this form a dark image in the reader’s mind, but it also sets the tone. The fact that everything is black produces an instantaneous feeling of dread in the reader for Jack, and the tone of the piece foreshadows that something bad is going to happen. The commas used also keep the pace fast and help keep the reader intrigued. If the sentence read differently, or specifically, more slowly, then the reader might not understand the urgency of the situation.

            When the men dressed in black begin to speak the audience begins to get an idea of who the men are and where they are from. “’Be this the one?’ /’This be the one sure as I have a tongue and one ear.’” (7) The encounter between the two men shows that they are less educated, due to the way they speak to each other. When one of them says, “If he be not the one, you shall have a tongue or one ear but never both on the same head.” (7) The word “shall” gives an inclination that the time period that the novel takes place is much earlier than current time. The seriousness in the joke from one man to the next shows that even though they laugh with each other, the person they work for isn’t someone to disappoint.

            Winterson’s writing style makes the novel easy to follow and interesting to read. On the surface everything looks straightforward; but after digging deeper into the structure of the novel and paying close attention to the small details, a much larger meaning begins to show itself. And that meaning is what keeps the reader reading.