How does McEwan use dialogue and other stylistic techniques to show the attitude of other characters to Joes relationship with Jed?

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How does McEwan use dialogue and other stylistic techniques to show the attitude of other characters to Joe’s relationship with Jed?

The piece of text below is a sample of the conversation between Linley and Joe, where Joe is being interviewed on the subject of Jed. Throughout the text there is a continued detachment from Linley about the subject of Jed, shown through dialogue and stylistic techniques.

        Firstly the use of the opening sentence “Linley raised his eyes but he didn’t look at me.” shows us the immediate disinterest in the subject of Jed. This attitude is continued with “his tiny grey eyes brushed past mine”. It shows us how Linley is not interested in engaging with Joe. Also the use of interrogatives in places shows us the further detachment from the subject. He uses these to pull from Joe the relevant information, such as “How did you meet?” Questions like this are fired at Joe constantly, showing how Linley is used to questioning people like this and is disinterested in the answers given. The sentence “You’re being harassed and threatened by this character” put forward by Linley portrays his attitude. The diction of “this character” makes it sound as if Linley does not believe Joe.

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        Also, the use of the question “Are you a psychiatrist, Mr Rose?”. It shows his sarcastic nature and the implicature is obvious to the reader. Lenley does not believe Joe has the right to declare Jed with a psychological condition, therefore not believing the accusations Joe is making about Jed. The attitude of Linley can also be seen through the use of voice filled pauses throughout the text for example, “Drew breath to speak”. It gives us the impression that Linley is sighing, and is bored of Joe and his account of Jed. This can be shown also from the ...

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