A sense of omniscient writing from the author is familiarised “through the eyes of the buzzard”- it draws our attention towards an image of a bird “soaring”, “circling”. These images help us to understand that the writer is seeing everything that is happening above them and knowing the event before it took place. This is effective because it arouses our interests that the characters’ actions are leading towards a fate that one could have previously seen. We see a link in this when Parry and Joe were “rushing towards each other like lovers”- it was as if they had known each other in their relationship although they were strangers. This produces a powerful impression because it gives a clue as to what happens next further in the story between Jed and Joe as we have foreseen it in their instincts to run towards each other in the accident.
The language is ambiguous in the first chapter, which is effective because the reader visualises different concepts in the way the story is portrayed. There is the use of repetition: “Aftermath”- yet it means a second crop of grass after the first cutting it is repeated again as a fore shadow to give an effective clue to the reader of what is to come, so the reader can anticipate events before they happen. An exploration of delaying tactics is presented to encourage the suspense and tension “I’m holding back, delaying the information”- it is a compelling insight to discover the phenomenon.
The first chapter is also effective to notice the characters’ behaviour. Joe; as the narrator, is describing the incident as well as analysing it giving evidence as to what class of person he is: “hydrogen in the nuclear furnace of the stars”- it is a scientific evaluation giving the impression that Joe is a scientist and he is a rational thinker.
We feel a sense of innocence when the writer mentions “a boy” in the balloon basket. The boy is vulnerable and terrified as if he was unable to react the situation; how the boy was “tossed” in the balloon signifies the tension and trauma that the boy went through. There are also uses of similes to denote the threat that people posed when they spoke to him “our words were like stones”- it is a perception of his danger. The writer wants us to feel the boy is suffering from the people that want to help him because of their altruism.
Different types of love are conveyed in the opening chapter; the writer intends to signify the enduring love between Clarissa and Joe, after their “reunion after a separation of six weeks”. It clarifies their relationship that they are meant to be together which is effective to introduce a true bonding as lovers. There is also an element of paternal love between James Gadd and his grandson Harry who was in the balloon. Although John Logan was not the father of Harry inside the balloon basket (as one might expect paternal love as father and son), the writer wants us to believe that Logan volunteered to help the boy and had paid the price of his life. This is effective because it informs the reader to think more deeply of altruism and to think of others before yourself to symbolise selflessness.
An association of ideas arises when Joe links his past to the ballooning accident by giving anecdotes to the reader to stimulate a character’s interest. The tense has shifted in the past which is effective to give background information to the reader before the incident; the time is slowing down because the writer had directed our minds on Joe and Clarissa rather than the accident. But the importance of the event grows as the narrator gives a detailed account. There is a symbolism of paternal love in Joe’s anecdote: “father and teenage son”- perhaps linking in to James Gadd and his grandson in the balloon. Before the incident Joe wants to re-iterate his true love between Clarissa: “set off down our path arm in arm”, it is a romantic scenery giving effect to the reader of their strong relationship. The writer also explores a piece of omniscient fore- shadowing of Jed Parry: “or, I imagined, I was another man, my own sexual competitor”. We can connect Joe and Jed in this quote because it is giving reference to the effect of these two characters and what they both share in common of their relationship.
The narrator recounts the moment when he heard the shouting, he had described it as “a baritone, on a rising note of fear.” The structure of the story in the first chapter is almost repeated because the writer portrays it in a more sophisticated aspect. The effect of this is to slow the pace of the accident and re-iterate their actions intriguing the reader to focus on the chapter. We come to reveal an idea of what the accident was when the narrator states “a huge grey balloon”- the reader will discover that it is a ballooning accident and will be encouraged to read on. A use of a simile to symbolise the balloon as a “tear drop” perhaps denotes sorrow or sympathy, on the other hand an omniscient sense of writing to indicate a tragedy that will happen.
Joe has narrated the event back and forth which has changed the structure and pace of the story. It also conveys a sense of urgency because it deals with the timing of the accident.
The writer draws our attention to the inevitability of nature and its powers: “The wind renewed its rage”, the effect is that the characters have no opposition against it- on the other hand John Logan who was the most responsible to stop the balloon paid his life for it. This affects the other characters who were involved to question themselves who helped him to his death. Perhaps the reader feels a sense of arrogance to every character’s involvement as Joe was “not prepared to accept” it was him. Furthermore Joe questions himself: “a reasonable course?” to rationalise his thoughts of his moral rights. An argument shall break out which stimulates the mind of the reader as to whom was right: “Someone said me”- the reader is affected by the characters’ actions and is curious to find out the consequences in the next chapters.
The use of a short sentence in the end is once again used to cumulate the tension: “Only ruthless gravity.” Yet it associates the inevitable force of nature, in this case “gravity” as a cause of Logan’s death, but on the contrasting side brought the boy safely to earth.
Throughout the first chapter, elements of tension and suspense are used to captivate the reader to read the book. Not only has it presented the ballooning accident in an interesting and tense action, but the characters are also being introduced as well as background information of Joe and Clarissa. A vividly expressed narration from Joe as the main character to evoke a page turner.
