Violence In Bani's The Tribe

‘The Tribe’ by Michael Mohammed Ahmad is reliant upon literary devices to elevate the emotional impact upon the reader. Complex events in the book are often presented as simplistic and understated through the narrative voice of the child. Such sentences juxtapose the deep and dramatic musings of the old narrator. The literary devices, such as metaphor, simile and characterisation, are used in an original way which sometimes mask the dark undercurrents of the situation. This is present in the pages 32-35 as the family responds to violence and a young boy unravels his identity. .

The author employs literary devices to create a matter of fact representation of a violent scene. The use of “‘thud’” to describe Bani’s act of violence indicates the youth of the narrator and the instinctive action as the sound is brief and heavy. …show more content…
He “...was living strategically between two worlds [because] I took two names.” Bani’s struggle with his identity and masculinity is made apparent through the motif of the Lego “Power Ranger”. Bani builds his vision of an admirable man. Throughout the book violence has been shown in relation to gender roles. The end result is Bani exerting his dominance over his female cousin in a physical way when he, for the umpteenth time, find his toys missing. The punch is thrown by instinct. "I sense that she’s about to turn around and just as her face flinches I make a fist with my right hand and punch her in the nose." His Uncle Osama “ screams like a goat gasping for air” with every intention of pursuing a violent end to events. Osama responds to cultural procedures and commands to fight a man to avenge his daughter. The request is made in Arabic, the language of the Tribe which cements the idea of masculinity having close ties to violence. This part of the scene is largely narrated by Bani in the present tense. This encourages empathy for a child struggling with his identity and his