How Does Alan Gibbons Create Dramatic Tension In The Edge
How does Alan Gibbons create dramatic tension in The Edge?
Alan Gibbons creates dramatic tension in The Edge using a variety of different techniques such as; pathetic fallacy, animal imagery, dramatic tension etc. The book is based on a young boy called Danny Mangam who lives in north London. He and his mother are on the run for Chris Kane, Danny’s abusive step-father. They try to get away and manage to get to Cathy’s mother and fathers house on the Edge Cliff Estate. But even there, nothing is safe. When they arrive, they are made to feel unwelcome by Cathy's father who disapproves of his mixed-race and says Danny is a 'mistake'. Elsewhere in Cathy’s northern hometown, racism is a major issue and Danny starts to find himself in a lot of bother; especially when he starts the local high school. And then Chris starts to track them down.
Firstly, dramatic irony is when the reader knows important information about the plot/ other character/ what might happen. Characters concerned does not know this information. For example the underlay Cathy has laid (newspaper) from the Edge Cliff Estate could reveal where she and Danny have escaped to. But when Cathy realised that’s she’s forgotten something she says “It isn’t as if Chris is likely to find it. What reason would he have to pull back the carpet?”
Also dramatic irony is used again when Chris is searching for Danny and Cathy in his black Mondeo trying to find them, Danny “hopes against hope that he can’t be seen from the top road, that he has given Chris the slip. But no such luck. There he is. The black Mondeo has just turned into the estate”. This shows that he’s like a hunter trying to find his prey and that he’s “prepared to take her back in little pieces”.
Another techniques used is pathetic fallacy. Weather creates the mood, atmosphere and genre connections. “Harry Mangams roses are blooming and the new wind chimes are twinkling in the breeze”. When Cathy goes outside on the edge “she goes to the back door and
Alan Gibbons creates dramatic tension in The Edge using a variety of different techniques such as; pathetic fallacy, animal imagery, dramatic tension etc. The book is based on a young boy called Danny Mangam who lives in north London. He and his mother are on the run for Chris Kane, Danny’s abusive step-father. They try to get away and manage to get to Cathy’s mother and fathers house on the Edge Cliff Estate. But even there, nothing is safe. When they arrive, they are made to feel unwelcome by Cathy's father who disapproves of his mixed-race and says Danny is a 'mistake'. Elsewhere in Cathy’s northern hometown, racism is a major issue and Danny starts to find himself in a lot of bother; especially when he starts the local high school. And then Chris starts to track them down.
Firstly, dramatic irony is when the reader knows important information about the plot/ other character/ what might happen. Characters concerned does not know this information. For example the underlay Cathy has laid (newspaper) from the Edge Cliff Estate could reveal where she and Danny have escaped to. But when Cathy realised that’s she’s forgotten something she says “It isn’t as if Chris is likely to find it. What reason would he have to pull back the carpet?”
Also dramatic irony is used again when Chris is searching for Danny and Cathy in his black Mondeo trying to find them, Danny “hopes against hope that he can’t be seen from the top road, that he has given Chris the slip. But no such luck. There he is. The black Mondeo has just turned into the estate”. This shows that he’s like a hunter trying to find his prey and that he’s “prepared to take her back in little pieces”.
Another techniques used is pathetic fallacy. Weather creates the mood, atmosphere and genre connections. “Harry Mangams roses are blooming and the new wind chimes are twinkling in the breeze”. When Cathy goes outside on the edge “she goes to the back door and