The event in ‘Touching the Void’ is described as a real accident that had happened to two mountain climbers in Andes. It was structured as two perspectives writing on one story and it shows how they deal with the situation. Joe had broken his leg and was hung on the rope over 19000 feet above the ground. Simon, Joe’s friend and companion, had to make a hard decision: whether or not to cut the rope and leave his friend to die.
The way Joe writes his piece conveys how frightened and scared he was over the incident. The use of dynamic verbs in the first paragraph helps to make an immediate, sudden start and, also, creates a tension: ‘hit’, ‘catapulted’, ‘ripped’, ‘jerked’. Then, he uses metaphors to show his dramatic, vivid pain and extreme intense reaction: ‘pain flooded down my thigh…a wave of nausea…my knee exploded’. The emotive language that was used in Joe’s account puts pressure on the context: ‘screamed’, ‘dark with dread’, ‘turn into a death sentence’. Furthermore, the triple present in the piece makes readers feel that there was no way out for him; it gives the right feeling of hopelessness that occurred in Joe. To make readers emphasize his state, Joe uses factual, short sentences.
Unlike Joe, Simon’s account is rather heartless. He describes his ordinary feelings that had nothing valuable from what had happened to his friend: ‘I felt tired and was grateful…’. The contrast with Joe’s feelings was made by using the verbs ‘rested’, ‘trudged’ that are calm, slow and peaceful. Also, Simon used the words ‘You’re dead’ to make it feel more dramatic, factual and show the harsh conditions of mountain climbing. He ‘accepted without any question’ that he was able to leave his friend suffer from pain and die. But he didn’t want to take the responsibility: ‘I hoped he would fall’. This has conveyed his inhumanity.
The Essay on Obligations Of Friend Simon Joe Outsider
Simon Birch Journal Entry By Alyssa Schankman Simon Birch is a film about outsiders, friendship, and love and sacrifice revolving around the life of a diminutive twelve-year-old boy named Simon. It captures the answers to the questions studied in the course of English thus far during the short story "The Lady or the Tiger" and the novels A Separate Peace and Lord of the Flies. In the film, Simon ...
Joe’s piece of writing is very emotional, while Simon’s account is quite rational with no trace of empathy. Joe paid attention to the senses, which made readers feel as if it was happening with them. Simon’s piece was rather unemotional, calm and logical. He didn’t give any feelings towards the accident. No fear, no panic, but an unquestionable logical decision.
The tension in the passage is also made by the language used. The use of rhetorical questions ‘Left here? Alone?’ increase the uncertainty. The phrase ‘teetering on the edge’ has a double meaning, which makes people think as if it is a reality and an inner reality. The repetition of the word ‘knee’ throughout the story makes people pay attention only to it. Moreover, the use of ellipsis strengthen the strain: ‘…if it’s broken…if…’ The repetition ‘I felt like screaming, I felt like swearing, but stayed silent’ is also alliteration, which amplify the tension to its peak. In addition, the antithesis ‘screaming’ and ‘silent’ present in the same phrase shows the panic of a man. The phrase ‘He looked pathetic’ in Simon’s account conveys how the man is objective about his friend. The way he says ‘It was totally rational’ comes with no emotions at all, as if he was totally impassive, combined with the adverb ‘dispassionately’. The phrase ‘I had no doubt about that’ makes it factual without any sign of hope. The passive way of view ‘in all likelihood he would fall to his death’ helps to create an image of a cold, cruel man, that has a contrast with the emotive language used. The phrases ‘It just seemed a waste for me’, ‘It would be pointless’ describe the evaluation of a man of his own life and how demoralized he is. It also shows how cheap the man treats friendship and a friend’s life.
In conclusion, this passage surprised me with its honesty. It has shown how different and heartless people may be. The story, described by two people, has opened the door to the true face of each person. It gave a real evaluation of a life and a great example of how people should fight for life. The passage showed that ordinary people can do incredible things to survive: a man full of courage came back to life from a dark, scary gulf. It has taught if a person wants to live, he will live no matter what happens…
The Essay on Half A Day Man Young Life
Many people feel that life goes by very rapidly. The stories "Half a day" by Naguib Mahfouz, and "Young Man on Sixth Avenue" by Mark Halliday, both convey this point. These two stories are very similar in the point they put across, but very different in the way they convey the theme to the reader. The short story, "Half a Day" by Naguib Mahfouz starts with a young boy walking to school with his ...
