In A Mild Attack of Locusts by Doris Lessing, there is a lot of war-like diction and references. Lessing uses direct war-like diction like: "armies", "fight", and "attack", along with descriptions and situations that hint at war. The entire story is somewhat like a battle. When the locust army approaches, the farmers gather their "troops" and prepare to fight off the locusts. One of the biggest ways Doris Lessing relates her story to war is through sounds. The ringing of the gong to call the laborers is like the assembling of an army. Also, when Margaret is inside of the house, many of the sounds she hears could be heard in a war setting. She hears the shouting of the the men, the splitting crack of branches, and the thunderous roar of the locusts. These loud sounds could just as well be used to describe the screams of men in battle, the crack of a gunshot, or the roar of a marching army. After the "battle" is finished, Margaret listens to the men talking, and observes The men were talking as if they were planning a war." And in a way, this "war" may be just a real as a war between men, where both sides are fighting for their lives, and their future well-being.
that " "Araby" by James Joyce is about the adolescent awakening of a young boy. The boy is the narrator in this story and he expresses his admiration and fantasies for a girl in his neighborhood. There are many parts of the story that exemplify how the boy is feeling and what he is experiencing. One such simile sends shivers running through the reader, "But my body was like a harp and her words and gestures were like fingers running upon the wires." This diction that James Joyce uses is near perfection as it portrays the feelings that the boy is having on an emotional and physical level. The comparison of the girl playing the narrator like a harp shows the reader just how much control she has on him. This explains why the boy is so willing to go to Araby at the girls request. Also, the simile of the harp is able to describe that tingling feeling of anticipation and anxiety that all of us feel, but few of us can describe. The vibrations of the harp and the smooth melodic tone are representative of the entranced state that the girl puts on the boy. This simile does an exemplary job of adding to the story and is a great use of diction.
The first thing I noticed when I browsed A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway was the multitude of dialogue. The majority of the story is a conversation between the old waiter and the young waiter. Not much description or direct characterization is needed because the reader can infer a lot from the dialogue. The lack of description and actions in the story enhances the read in a way because it makes interpreting the story much more rewarding. At the beginning of the conversation, there is no distinction between the young waiter and the old waiter, but as the story commences, Hemingway starts to refer the which waiter is talking. This helps show how the old waiter transitions from being aligned with the young waiter, to being aligned with the old man. At the end of the story, the old waiter is very similar to the old man: he does not talk much, he drinks an alcoholic drink, and he starts to become depressed about the outlook of life. This story is all about the transition and shift in the thinking of the old waiter.
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