Star of the Sea

This passage is an extract from Joseph O’ Connor’s Star of the sea which was penned in the year 2002. The passage makes use of a third person narrative view point as a result of which the readers are provided with a vivid image of passengers aboard a stormy sea ship. The passage talks about a ship afloat a stormy sea and how the passengers on the deck are caught unaware due to this storm. The author uses a descriptive style of writing with short crisp sentences that heighten the pace of the story. In the last two paragraphs however, the author uses longer sentences that signal a slower pace and show the readers that the storm has died down for the time being. The author has interspersed the action with 2 dialogues. It is interesting to note that both dialogues are some form of instruction and hence the dialogue could be used to tell the reader what else is happening on the ship. The protagonist is unknown for the first stanza and the author uses diacksis to refer to the protagonist. This could be to build up the suspense and draw attention to the action rather than to the protagonist.
The passage begins in medea res that is in the middle of the action. There is a rise in action in the first 2 passages which then abruptly halts in the last two paragraphs. The rise in action is complemented by the short sentences used by the author which increase the pace of the story. The exposition of the passage comes towards the end when we are introduced to Dixon, Meredith, Laura and her two children. The climax could be the part where the klaxon is sounded to clear all the decks. This klaxon is a bell and has allusions to the jingling of bells in the bible. Thus it can be said that the action is in accordance with the Freytag’s triangle.
The author makes heavy use of imagery. He uses a lot of visual imagery to paint a vivid picture of a stormy ship. Sentences like “It seemed to spew from the clouds not merely fall” , show us that the author pays attention to detail. These