The narrator begins to withhold vital information from the reader, increasingly throughout the chapter, to create anxiety from within. "The encounter that would unhinge us was minutes away," the narrator is building up the tension and almost setting the scene for the unnamed disaster which is about to occur; But cleverly leaves out any detail that might lead us to discover what is about to happen. He further hints that the disaster about to unfold is life changing, "This was the last time that I understood anything clearly at all." McEwan then sets the atmosphere and describes the events prior to the disaster, "I heard what was coming two seconds before it reached us." After this McEwan goes on to describe the wind on the fateful day using verbs to describe the strength of it, "hurtling" and "transversing" implying that the wind plays a most important part in what is about to happen; But before the narrator goes any further he says "Let me freeze the frame”, which shows that the narrator, McEwan, is looking back on events and this explains the structure of the first chapter, how it moves focus from one point to another hastily, and never uniformly, on different tangents. McEwan uses this technique to build the tension up further, and to whip the reader back into the action of the novel once more after moving off on another tangent. This helps and encourages the reader to focus and picture what is actually happening, whilst at the same time, it’s an opportunity for the narrator to introduce broader horizon to the characters and events. This is a deliberate narrative technique used by McEwan.
McEwan also uses Symbolism in the first Chapter, using the wind as a tool to indicate the state that the story is in. Before the disaster happens, the scene is still in a state of tranquillity and a picture of ‘calm before the storm’ is created, "Balloon drifting dreamily across the wooded valley." From then on the wind is a constant and continuing feature that symbolises the intensity of the danger that lies ahead, "The wind that roared." The wind is a natural element, but it is ruthless and is used to increase the sense of danger, "Met Office figures…it was said of 70 miles per hour." The wind almost threatens the characters, leaving the reader with a feeling that disaster is imminent. There is also a direct correlation between the ferocity of the wind and the severity of the disaster and this is clever use of symbolism as the reader is able to sense danger from just one element of the text without being spoon fed the unravelling plot. Furthermore the wind symbolises the unpredictability of fate. The wind is described as being an uncontrollable force, which creates anxiety in both the reader and affects the narrator.
In conclusion, I believe that most, if not all, the techniques and methods listed above are used contribute towards creating an effective, addictive and addictive opening chapter. Additionally, it is important to note that McEwan does this successfully, the main stimulant being, the thirst for more information and your undying curiosity. McEwan deliberately hands you a taste as to what may happen next, then forces it from you, making you want to read further to uncover what you so narrowly missed out on; And this is what, so successfully, makes the first chapter of the novel so effective, the need to read until the very end
