In chapter 6 of “Touching the Void”, the men are faced with multiple problems on how they are going to get down the mountain. With no gas left and a fierce storm brewing in the distance the men have to act quick if they are to make it down alive. Because they have no choice but to move as fast as they can, when Joe is being lowered down by Simon, his foot strikes the snow which creates a burning pain in his broken leg. An example of this in when Joe says, “Several times I had felt it twist sideways when my boot snagged, and each time the movement was unnatural”. because of this Joe begins screaming and yelling at Simon to slow down as he is in extreme pain. Despite Joe’s cry’s Simon doesn’t respond and because of this, Joe gets frustrated at Simon for not slowing down. This creates a sense tension between Joe and Simon and a feeling of uneasiness for the reader.

When Joe is lowed over the void he recreates the tension by stating that he is hanging over a “large crevasse at the base of the cliff”. He creates tension by his clever use of syntax and language techniques. Joe uses words such as “dread” and “impossible” to create emphasis and along with minor sentences they create a feeling of hopelessness and makes the reader think that there is no way out, that Joe is going to die.

There are a few key details that support Simon’s action of cutting the rope

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  1. A good start, Daniel. However, were there additional obstacles with evidence that you could have included for the first task?

    Also, make sure that you support some of your findings: “by his clever use of syntax and language techniques,” with evidence. 🙂

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