How does Ian McEwan use narrative expectation in chapter one of Enduring Love?

Authors Avatar

Laura Brown 12GW

How does Ian McEwan use narrative expectation

in chapter one of Enduring Love?

McEwan manages to keep the reader interested in the novel from the start, the build up to the story is intriguing. He uses short sentences that make statements about the situation Joe and Clarissa are about to face but it is not explained.  Joe refers to ‘the danger’ but the reader is not given any indication as to what it could be.  Joe goes on to say he ‘was running towards it’, again the reader does not know what ‘it’ is and so is drawn into the book to find out.  The reader is made aware that something big is going to happen, that Joe and Clarissa will be taken ‘away from’ their ‘happiness’.  The idea that Joe is ‘racing into this story and its labyrinths’ gives an ominous impression, the way ahead for the will be complicated, they could get lost and be in danger.  This is indeed true as the story develops beginning with the tragic accident involving the balloon and its after effects.  McEwan also drifts in and out of times so that the reader never quite gets the answer before a new situation is introduced, it is as if the narrator, Joe, is loosing his line of thought.  This builds a sense of suspense and uncertainty it can also be frustrating as the reader is not sure what is happening.

The first chapter of Enduring love begins with a short introductory sentence, which gives insight into Joe’s personality.  The fact that Joe describes ‘the beginning’ of his story as ‘simple to mark’ and the idea of an event happening being ‘the pinprick on the timemap’ shows Joe’s empirical character, it is obvious from the start that Joe has to think things through methodologically.  This is relevant throughout the story, Joe is interested in science, this plays a big part in the story.  The Opening line also refers to religion ‘the beginning’ is thought of as a reference to when God created the world, as well as introducing another strong theme held throughout the story it could also represent a new world being created, one in which Joe is isolated.  In the story Joe becomes increasingly isolated from Clarissa and perhaps reality as religion obsessed Jed tries to talk Joe into joining him in his love for God and to return Jed’s love for him.  It is also interesting that Joe describes his first sight of Jed Parry as they were running towards the balloon ‘like lovers’, this is much like a prediction and perhaps is the way that Jed views their first encounter.  

Join now!

After giving away a small amount of information about the event, Joe reverts back in time when he was planning to meet Clarissa. Joe has put together an Italian picnic, this is a romantic thought and shows Joe’s soft side.  He goes to great trouble to please Clarissa on her arrival.  Clarissa’s first words in the novel are told to the reader by Joe in which she puts him down calling him ‘the world’s most complicated simpleton’ while she laughs when she says it and probably means it as a term on endearment it could still be taken as ...

This is a preview of the whole essay