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Literary Techniques In Fly Away Peter

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The sequences of war are substantially portrayed by David Malouf within his novel Fly Away Peter. Through the use of various literary techniques and conventions, Malouf explores and incorporates the idea of peace before war, obligations and events at war, death, and the aftermath of war. The text is written in 1914, a timeless era on the Queensland coast. This was at the time of the first outbreak of World War 1, when most young men felt obligations to defend their nation in a foreign country. In the case of the protagonist, Jim Saddler, the trenches of the Armentières is where he fought for his nation in this tale of companionship and continuity.

Commencing the text, Malouf describes the serenity in the atmosphere before the outbreak of World War 1. Long, descriptive sentences are used within this section of the novel to describe the setting to the reader, and feel immersed in the world described as adjectives are used abundantly. The blue mountains surrounding Jim and his companions were “soft blue” at times, then would “later approach to purple”. Imagery is used here to describe the soft, calming colours of the surrounding pinnacles of nature.This indicates Malouf wants the reader …show more content…

Metaphors are commonly used throughout the text, whether malouf used it to emphasise certain gruesome aspects of war, or to express the mourning of a character over a friend lost in the battle lines. Imagery plays a major role in conveying various aspects within the storyline, particularly through the duration of Jim’s life at war. Particularly within the chapters following Jim entering the battle lines, Malouf applies hyperbole in his writing as an emphasis strategy, for the readers to be overwhelmed and have a detestation towards the concept of war. Malouf, using all of these literary techniques, and created a disheartening tale of a man’s journey through

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