Sunrise on the Veld

27/02/2007

What is Doris LessingÕs purpose in the following extract and how effectively does she achieve it? Comment on her point of view, tone and language and any other important aspects of style.

By Adam van Sant
The extract from Sunrise on the Veld was written by Doris Lessing. He purpose is to make us feel like we are inside the head of the main character. The main character has come across a dying buck in a field and is contemplating whether to put the buck out of itÕs suffering. Lessing uses many aspects of style in her writing. Some include point of view, tone, word choice, conflict, sentence structure and atmosphere. As all of these aspects of style come together we are able to see deeper than just the words and are actually able to make our way into the head of the main character gaining greater connections with him.

The extract from Sunrise on the Veld was written in a limited omniscient point of view. This helps the author achieve her purpose because it conveys the attitude and emotions of only the main character/characters. In this extract, Doris Lessing uses limited omniscient point of view to show the emotions and feelings of the min character as he suffers to face a dying buck. Because of this writing style the author is able to show us deeper into the thought processes and emotions of the main character. For example, when the author writes, Ò(He) felt in his own limbs the myriad swarming pain of the twitching animalÉÓ If the author had not used this writing style, we would not know that the main character feels physical pain because of the bucks suffering. This knowledge is able to give us more of a connection towards the main character as we know his deepest feelings.

The author, Doris LessingÕs word choice helps to portray the emotional attachment in which the main character feels towards the buck. Lessing uses the word ÔIÕ a lot, especially at the beginning of the extract, when describing the thoughts the character has about the buckÕs suffering. This shows that he has connected on an emotional level with the animal and has taken responsibility for the animal on his own shoulders. We see this when the author writes, ÒI canÕt stop it. I canÕt stop it. There is nothing I can do.Ó The constant use of the word ÔIÕ in this passage particularly shows the emotional connection the main character has with the buck. Without this we would think that the main character did not care what happened to the buck, but because we know that he cares, we are able to dig deeper into the main characters emotional side and gain a greater connection with him.

Doris Lessing also uses conflict to give us a deeper knowledge of the main characters thoughts. These occur in the head of the main character as he is deciding whether or not to kill the buck. It is almost as if he has a little devil on shoulder telling him one thing and a little angle on the other shoulder telling him the opposite. We see this at the beginning of the extract when Lessing writes, ÒIt came to his mind to shoot it and end its pain; and he raises his gun. Then he lowers it again.Ó The main character then goes on to day, ÒÉif I had not come along it would have died like this: so why should I interfere?Ó This shows that he is having a conflict in his head on whether or not to kill the animal. As the extracts goes on we see him second guessing himself then always reassuring himself that he made the right choice. This conflict is able to show us more of the thoughts of the main character, thus making more of a connection with him.

The tone of writing and the sentence structure in this extract help to show us that we are listening directly to his thoughts. This helps the authorÕs purpose by assuring us that we have a direct route to his thoughts, gaining us greater connection to the main character. The tone is always shifting and helps to give the idea that we are listening directly to his thoughts. For example at the end of the first paragraph and the beginning of the second, the tone goes from great despair, (ÒThere is nothing I can do.Ó) to a minor case of joy, (ÒHe was gladÉÓ) . The sentence structure is short, sharp and forever changing topic. This is also able to reassure us that we have a Òdirect linkÓ to his thought process. This is because our thoughts are continuously changing topics or are just short sharp ideas. These two aspects of style are used by the author to help us to gain greater attachments to the main character. The atmosphere of this extract is one of desolation. We know that there is nothing that the main character can do to help the buck but to shoot it. The main character does not wish to shoot the buck so we are left alone with him and the suffering, almost dead animal. This atmosphere of desolation helps us to connect with the main character on a much more personal level. For example, if there where hundreds of people watching the buck died and we where told what was going on in each of there heads, we would not make any emotional connection with them. The author is able to use this desolation to help us gain a better connection with the main character.

Doris Lessing was able to successfully use aspects of style in the extract from Sunrise on the Veld to give us a deeper insight into the thoughts of the main character. This lead to us gaining a connection with the main character as he suffered with the dying buck. Lessing was able to use point of view, tone, word choice, conflict, sentence structure and atmosphere to create this connection with the main character and the reader.