Of A Lonely Man

It was closed night when Josh broke into our house and took my mother and me out of the city limits. I remember my mother shouting at him to help her pack my father’s papers. He shouted back there was no time, they had to get me safe. They’d come back to get it when the risk was over, he said. There was not going to be a war over such a stupidity, he said. Uncle Josh was never one to make good predictions.

He drove us out Berlin to some lost town nearby. Josh knew some people there who gave us a bed to sleep in and some food as long as it took them to figure out who we were. Back then I didn’t understand what was all the fuss with who my dad was, but, then again, I didn’t understand half the things that were going on around me, so that didn’t bother me too much.

After a week in the lost town, mom, Josh and I moved to la Bretagne in France. We lived there the first two years of the War without noticing. Josh and mom sold every traceable device they owned and we all lived happily in the countryside out of milk from a bad-tempered cow called Inna and what Josh would find in the woods or in the rivers. It was a beautiful place to grow up in. Unlucky me, we moved out when China started invading France by the Bay of Biscay.

The fresh valleys of France where then replaced by hot beaches in Spain. We tried to take Inna with us because we had all grown fond of her, but she “ran off” during the journey. We then ate cow meat until we got to what was before the war known as Valence. I might as well add we were a bit short of money.

Mom and Josh always fought over the future. It was certain China was going to try to colonize the Mediterranean as well, but there was not many free lands left to go to so we stuck around until we saw the Chinese sea army arrive. Only then we hurried across Spain to what still then was Galicia. We stayed one week in Cedeira, waiting for a ship direction England. England was not a neutral country in the War, but it was the last relatively safe country we could go to.

We did not stay there more time than the necessary. We crossed England and went to live in another valley, now in Northern Wales. I loved the smell and the weather there, it reminded me of my time in la Bretagne, but mom was not too happy to be in Wales.

All I knew of my father back then was that he was Welsh and that he was Josh’ brother, even though that was not something Josh’ was happy about. My father disliked him to the point of hatred and my mother was worried that he would find us. Back then I didn’t make connexions between the father who was Josh’ brother and the one we were being prosecuted for, I just somehow managed to have two fathers and my mind didn’t explode.

Some weeks after we got to Wales the war was over, at least officially. Josh went to Cardiff to sort out some business, they never really told me anything. Why would they? I was only ten.

We never saw him again.

like, confsue

 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwGILXtqw0g)

Of a lonely man.

He looks out the heavy glass window with his coffee in his hand. It is getting cold. He should go get it warm. Cold coffee is not good. But he is so comfortable in his couch...

That's good. Concentrate on the small things. Don't think outside the circle.

He drives his hand softly up his neck. It's so cold in this house. He wonders how The Master managed living here, in this icy and damp...

No, no. No thinking about him, lad. Stay inside.

The coffee is getting colder. He gets brusquely up and out and far from the couch, making the little wooden table fall noisily and shatter to pieces.

Mother won’t like this.

She won’t see it.

He, now calmly, walks to the kitchen with the coffee cup held in a very strange manner. If anyone could see him they probably would think him mad.

So they would, if only anyone.

And they would be right.

But of course no-one could see him. He was alone. Finally alone. He had worked so hard to get to this day, and it all had resolved merrily. And merry it would stay. He would make sure of that...

The coffee, lad. Stay inside. There’s no need to bring the Beast out.

He opened the gas.

Questions on an extract from "Touching The Void" by Joe Simpson.

Touching the Void

1.    1.    · Joe Simpson uses “the fireball” (line 27 in Joe’s account) as a metaphor giving a name to the hurt he feels in his groin and thigh. This helps him describe it without making the reading pace slow down by adding a description which would eventually bore the reader, as in the previous paragraphs there has been an abundance of it. On the other hand, this helps Simpson speed up the text, which is convenient, as the events taking place are quick and brusque.

· Simpson uses a variety of sentence structure in his text. For instance, he uses short and imperative sentences to show the anxiety and sharpness in Joe’s thoughts (lines from 31 to 41 in Joe’s account). One of the best examples of this is: “He would leave me.” (line 40 in Joe’s account). In this short sentence Joe’s feelings are read in the way he presents the fact. Joe has no doubt about it, and that’s what charges his anxiousness.

· In lines 9 to 11 in Joe’s account, Joe Simpson, uses commas instead of full stops to produce a long sentence. This creates tension, as it keeps the reader knowing that there’s something waiting after the point. Stinson then releases this tension by using short sentences and exclamation marks: “My leg!... My leg!”

2.    2.   Having both Joe’s and Simon’s viewpoints helps the reader have a more complete and unbiased opinion of the events taking place. It is also a good way for Simpson to build an image of the characters without adding long and often tedious descriptions, which would most probably bore a reasonable percentage of the potential readers. On the other hand, if we take into consideration the type of events that take place during the text, Simpson cannot afford to slow down much the reading pace, as it would eliminate the tension being created by the events and by doing so, the text would lose all its dramatic appeal.

3.    3.   Joe Simpson uses emotive vocabulary, especially in Joe’s account, to make the reader relate to the characters. An example of this is “I felt like screaming, and I felt like swearing,”. Here, we can appreciate how Simpson explains the climber’s feelings (he uses the verb felt) to help the reader relate to them. Simpson also humanizes both Joe and Simon by showing their feelings, worries and thoughts; even though Joe’s emotions are stronger and therefore better understood. We can prove this helps the reader relate to them if we compare Joe to Simon. While reading Joe’s account, the reader feels what Joe feels because of the strong emotions caused by the accident. On the other hand, Simon is almost like a rock in what to emotions refers, he doesn’t express strong or powerful emotions which makes it harder for the reader to relate to him. Using this knowledge we can conclude that characters need to show emotion and be humanized for the reader to relate to them.

4.  4.     This text has been written mainly to entertain. This can be appreciated in the way the author uses vocabulary and in the way he tells the story. Simpson uses emotional and powerful vocabulary to create powerful and long-lasting images in the reader’s mind. The author would not want the events taking place on one chapter to be forgotten while reading another one, so the his recount of what happened that day may be exaggerated or decorated to make them more appealing and extreme. This is mainly a feature of a text written to entertain.