The Shipping News Analysis

Centered on a character named Quoyle; someone who has never succeeded at anything, and who’s unadorned and simpleton life is upturned by the terrible death of his cheating wife. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, follows Quoyle’s life-journey of him searching and attempting for a new beginning in Newfoundland. The novel is a New York Time bestseller, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book award. Although, in my opinion the plot of the story could be considered simple and unimaginative. What made it such a success was the literature. The fashion in which Annie Proulx wrote, consisted of a lack of regard of proper sentence structure, and the use of numerous literacy devices. For me, the literacy devices were largely the main contributing …show more content…
“No wonder love had shot him through the heart and lungs, caused internal bleeding.” The quote describes his process of creating or modifying his perception of love, as well as why and how it had affected him. It literally objectifies love, making it appear as a skin piercing object such as an arrow or bullet. Also depicting metaphorically how it physically pained him; creating a physical image of the trajectory of love arrow/bullet piercing him through the heart and lungs. For, me this imagery also allowed for the conceptual imagery of his emotions. This citation demonstrates how the author’s use of literary devices creates a more conceptual as well as physical understanding of the characters. They permit the reader to see the characters as a whole human …show more content…
On top of painting a sharp and rich image of the setting(s) they also allowed for the setting to have a life of its own. They contributed to the descriptions by making the setting(s) seem alive; as if they had a soul within. In certain circumstances it was simply through personification, where objects or animals are given human attributes. An example can be located on pages 43 to 44, “Qyoule hooked is fingers under the window planks and heaved. Like pulling on the edge of the world. …, clenched the nails fast. They came out crying.” In other circumstances it is done in a more subtle fashion; through metaphors and similes. Examples can be found throughout the novel, but here are a few. On page 192, “The sun laid topaz wash over barrens.”, and on page 57, “The engine choked a little and fell silent as though embarrassed.” They assign life to the setting(s) by giving them actions or even simply repetition such as, “No human sign, nothing, no ship, no plane, no animal, no bird, no bobbing trap marker nor