There are many different types of tools a writer can use to create meaning, and different feelings in a story. Whether the author uses just one of the tools, or as many as he can fit into the story, they can create meaning or tone. Imagery, personification, characterization, and even the types of words the author utilizes can create meaning and a different tone in the story. Ray Bradbury does an good job of creating meaning and different tones in his stories through using these many different tools, along with others. His use of imagery, characterization, personification, and so many other different tools create a great deal of meaning in his stories. Whether he uses the tools to create tension, or just to bring the story to life, his use …show more content…
Bradbury can make it seem as if the inanimate objects in his stories have become human and have developed human emotions. A good example of personification in Bradbury’s stories would be, “The fire rushed back into every closet and felt of the clothes hung there.” (There Will Come Soft Rains.) The personification here gives fire human like attributes. Fire does not have hands or the conscious to do something like know to go back to something. In the story, it shows the inanimate object having a mind of it’s own, though it can not because it has no conscious. The personification here helps build the tension in the story, and helps give the reader a better idea of how the story is going to end. Another, perfect example of personification would be, “ ‘I wonder if it hates me for wanting to switch it off?’ ” (The Veldt.) The personification here is coming from one of the characters, in which the character is asking is a room hates them for doing something. A room, being something that does not have a mind, can not have emotions of hate towards anyone or anything. Even technology can not have emotions, it can only do what it is been programmed to do, unless it has been programmed to have emotions by a human. It helps create more of the tension in the story, and shows a little bit of the characterization of the person saying it, how they are afraid of the room. …show more content…
He applies it to show the reader how the story is going and how the characters feel. It can also be used to show us how the characters are different from others. A good example of this would be, “Mr. Leonard Mead would pause, cock his head, listen, look, and march on, his feet making no noise on the lumpy walk.” (The Pedestrian.) Here the reader can see how the character acts to his surroundings, letting us know that the character is observant and is interested in the things around them. It gives the reader a good idea of how the character thinks and is going to act. Another example of characterization would be, “Eckels pronounced this verdict quietly, as if there could be no argument. He had weighed the evidence and this was his considered opinion. The rifle in his hands seemed a cap gun.” (A Sound of Thunder.) Here, the reader can see how the character is acting, and how he feels. This gives the reader a better idea of what is going on in the character's head, and can help the reader put themselves in the characters shoes. This can also help the reader to guess what is going to happen in the rest of the story, and what the character is going to do next. Characterization can help the story in different ways. It can help the reader understand the character, and it can also help the reader guess what is going to happen
Ray Bradbury uses personification in his short story The Veldt to make the inanimate objects come to life. The house and deadly nursery prove to be a true and raw form of author’s craft. However, people may describe it as a simile or a metaphor, which is not correct considering the specifics of personification that were in play. In addition, the fact that even the things inside of the house, like the stove, had personification added in to describe them. Personification is a form of author’s craft that, in a way, must be used precisely, and in The Veldt, it is used as such, and in many creative
One example of this is when Bradbury talks about how lonely the streets are when the main character is walking, “The streets were silent and long and empty with only his shadow moving like the shadow of the hawk in midcountry” (“Pedestrian 98”). It really lets the reader soak in the setting and let the reader feel what the main character is feeling. Another form of imagery in the text is when Bradbury talks about the houses and how they look. “And on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unlike walking in a graveyard where only the faint glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows” (“Pedestrian 96”). This quote is letting the reader know about the street being empty and dark with no one to be seen. One more example is when a cop car pulls up to the character, the car asked him to get in and then describes the inside of the car “He put his hand on to the door and peered into the back seat, which was like a little cell, a little black jail with bars. It smelled of riveted steel. It smells of harsh antiseptic, it smelled to clean and hard metallic. There was nothing safe there” (“Pedestrian 100”). This quote describes the unsettling feeling of the police car and the smell of the metal and
Figurative language is powerful, and Bradbury is not afraid of a metaphor. He uses an excessive amount to orchestrate
In the beginning of the novel, Ray Bradbury focuses on figurative language to convey his theme. Throughout the first part, Bradbury uses many forms of figurative language such similes, metaphors, and irony. One example of figurative language is on page 56, with the quote “there was no longer need of firemen for the old purposes. They were given a new job, as custodians of our peace of mind.” (Bradbury 56). This quote is a metaphor because it compares the new job
Character is a very important element of fiction because without characters, a story falls apart because readers only care about the plot and other aspects of fiction because of how it affects a character or characters. Characterization is the process with which the writer reveals the personality of a character or characters. Characterization can also help reveal the relationship between characters and how they feel about each other. If a writer knows how to use characterization properly, he or she can really bring the story and characters to life for the reader. “My Kid’s Dog” by Ron Hansen is an excellent example of how
With characterization the reader is able to find out who a character is and what he/she is about. Characterization is a huge part of literature and is almost always present in a story. Without characterization the reader would be left with boring, plain characters. Characterization is super important in literature because it adds a whole new aspect to a story that the reader would have never known without characterization.
Characterization in a narrative is how the author creates and describes a character. The character is introduced and then explained in detail throughout the story. The two ways an author can deliver this information to the audience is through direct and indirect characterization. Direct characterization is when the author is telling the readers information about the character and what he or she is like. Indirect characterization is when the author attempts to show what the character is like and give the reader information through the character’s actions and words. Through both direct and indirect characterization, we are able to understand some of the physical attributes of the character as well as their personality. People want to know why
Characterization is an important component in short story writing. In the short story "Lamb to the Slaughter" written by Roald Dahl, we are introduced to Mary Maloney, a pregnant housewife who recently found out that her husband is going to leave her. Mary develops into a very complex character as the events of the short story unfold. Mary is a typical housewife, waiting on her husband hand and foot. She loves him dearly, but as the short story unfolds, we see that he does not share the same feelings. Mary, unable to handle the rejection, lashes out and kills her husband. We then see Mary’s character transform before our eyes and the once loving, dutiful housewife becomes a very devious, manipulative and cold hearted character. She manages
In the story “The Pedestrian” the author, Ray Bradbury, uses a great diction and organization to convey the intended tone. Throughout the story Ray uses many words that are packed with emotion to get the desired response from the reader. For example, the author writes “He stood entranced, not unlike a night moth, stunned by the illumination, and then drawn toward it.” This is a great sentence because it uses words like entranced and illumination. The word choice in this sentence really allows the reader to visualize a man on the street transfixed by a light shined at him. The sentence also helps build the suspenseful and at the same time tranquil tone. As a reader we don’t really get the full experience of the tone used in the story until
Authors use characterization to develop the actions of the characters. Like Mary’s actions in ‘The Lamb to the Slaughter’ by using different kinds of literature devices. Roald Dahl in "The Lamb to the Slaughter" uses characterization, imagery, and irony to develop the character of Mary so that the reader can understand what has occurred during the murder.
Characterization refers to the techniques a writer uses to develop characters in the story. In the story ‘A Rose for Emily’, William Faulkner uses characterization to reveal the character of Miss Emily Grierson, the main role. Faulkner’s use of language foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. He expresses the content of her character through physical descriptions, through her act, words, and feeling, through the narrator’s direct comments about the character’s nature, and through the actions, words and feelings of the other characters. Faulkner also uses the characterization to examine the theme of the story. His
Characterization is an important element in our Language Arts curricula. It helps the reader get a better understanding of the characters and their mental traits. An good example of where characterization can be used is in the short story "Lamb to the Slaughter". Written by Roald Dahl. In this short story, we are introduced to the character "Mary Maloney". At the beginning, Mary is known for being a warm, caring and loving wife to her husband "Patrick Maloney". But by the end we know that is not the case. Mary turns out to be the opposite. A cold, no hearted murderer. She changes from being a loving wife, to a manipulative and unstable woman. As you can probably tell, Mary Maloney is a very clever, courageous and manipulative character. To
Characterization is how the characters in the text are viewed and developed as the text expands. For this, I will consider the character, Nyla (purple). Nyla is an innocent girl with dull eyes and voice. Her innocence is revealed as tells of her first time sex encounter and also in her lack of understanding of her mum and sister’s relationship. Her confession of sex to an older man is like that of a young misled child. She is ignorant of the world and its dangers. She just completed high school and is very excited, happy to lose her virginity to childhood sweetheart. Reality drowns on her when she finds out she is pregnant and needed to abort. Her innocence gives her away when she tries to
aims his focal point at imagery to provide vivid and rich details. Literary devices play a crucial
Characterization is a literary element used by the author to present qualities of characters in a literary piece, the purpose of characterization is to make characters credible and make them suitable for the role they play in the work. Authors present various characters possessing dissimilar qualities, to emphasize different aspects of the work. In the novel “The Scarlet Letter”, the author Nathaneil Hawthorn’s depiction of the two male characters, Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth, emphasizes the moral problems of the seventeenth century puritan society. Hence, their different characters contribute vitally to the plot of the novel.