The entire story is about a hydrogen bomb destroying the city of Stratford-upon-Avon. The story is told a few days after the incident. The story describes the state of the small town after the bomb was dropped on it. The bomb is destructive, there are no humans, animals or even dialogues for characters. The mood in the story is very sad, which is an excellent viewpoint that Arthur C. Clarke shows throughout out the story. The bomb destroyed everything in the town, and a sad mood would be the best thing that would fit throughout the story. Arthur C. Clarke is very descriptive through his writing. He would write about many very insignificant details, for example when he wrote, A church had stood here by the river 's edge, and though no trace of the building remained, the gravestones that the years had gathered round it still marked its place. He is writing about a church that has nothing to do with the story. This is amazing because writing with detail makes stories much more interesting, and throughout this story Arthur C. Clarke does just that, which is why this short story is much more powerful than the ordinary short story.
Arthur C. Clarke utilizes vocabulary that is very unique to most other authors. He uses words like armada, inert, toil, graven, and vitrified to bring about his ideas. These words are not used in normal stories, but in Arthur C. Clarkes case these words make the story powerful. Using colorful vocabulary enhances the learning of the reader and forces the reader to read through context to understand that certain word. This clever way of utilizing advanced vocabulary allows Arthur C. Clarke to write an outstanding story.
All in all this short story was a wonder to read. Reading just a short excerpt of Arthur C. Clarkes writing in the means of the short story, The Curse, really showed me that he indeed is an amazing writer. I look forward to reading more novels written by this wonderful author for his amazing knack of writing with descriptive detail and wide array of vocabulary.
Bibliography:"The Curse (short story)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 May 2009, 03:06 UTC. 22 Oct 2009 .
Bibliography: "The Curse (short story)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 May 2009, 03:06 UTC. 22 Oct 2009 .
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