13th March 2018

Disaster- chapter 5

Chapter 5 of touching the void is one of the most climactic moments for Joe, the protagonist. In pages 71-73 Joe is faced with a life threading disaster, when he slips off a vertical ice wall and falls hundreds of feet rupturing his right knee joint. Joe uses many different language techniques to bring the reader into what he is experiencing and to create tension. An example of this is his use of minor sentences. When Joe says, “My leg! Oh Jesus. My leg!”. By using short sharp sentences and repeating the phrase “My Leg” it puts and image in the readers head that Joe is in extreme pain and can’t think properly. It also shows that something must of happened to Joe’s legĀ  and that his thoughts are rushing and all over the place without any real thought to them. This quote is also very relate able for many of us as readers because we can associate these words with pain or discomfort.

It is very important for the reader that Simon point of view is included in the text. This is because as readers, we need to understand what Simon is going through in his head and what his feelings are towards Joe, and also how they change when he is realizes what a burden Joe has became to their team.

Minor sentence: incomplete sentence (without a completed verb) E.g. Waiting. Wondering. Life halts.

Simple sentence: subject and verb. E.g. He waited for the bus. He was wondering when the bus would come. Life felt as if it halted.

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