Stylistics In About A Boy By Nick Hornby

Stylistics is a study centered on the language of literature. As the study of style, this approach focuses primarily on the lexical features, the elements of narration and interpretation of characters. These major elements are used to examine a literary work such as in this situation; a novel by Nick Hornby entitled About a Boy is analyzed. The study of stylistics enables reader to scrutinize a specific literary discourse to get a deep insight about the use of language in it. Therefore, the components of stylistics such as the lexical features, the elements of narration and interpretation of characters are utilized to examine the excerpt from the novel, About a Boy. Based on the excerpt, the sentence structure is not complex and the sentences are not long. The excerpt is written using past tense, thus it is a reminiscence of the past. The use of vocabulary is simple and the conversations between the major characters, Marcus and Will are casual yet emotive. Generally, the use of words such as ‘fear, cry, sick, upset and problems’, during Marcus’s conversation with Will regarding his mother creates a pathetic feeling among readers. This displays the emotional state of a young boy who struggles in …show more content…
Stylistically, the shift in conversation between the major characters is studied. From the narrators perspective, Marcus is portrayed as a school boy and Will as a grown up man. Their age, maturity level and their lifestyle differs. From the excerpt, the major characters are viewed to have opposing personalities as such, Marcus underwent a stressful life and Will had a very simple life, whereby Will, “…liked watching people’s problems on TV, but he’d never had anyone with problems on his sofa before.” Moreover, readers could imply that Will is a caring person as he is concerned about Marcus and his parents. As these contradicting personalities encounter each other, slowly their relationship