The setting of the basement is very important is very important to the plot because the darkness of the cold, wet basement builds up tension and accentuates he interactions between the characters and gives them a chance to interact and become friends. The basement crates a feeling of death by incorporating the likeness of the basement to a grave being cold, dark and damp. The basement also symbolises them being closer to hell, which also builds tension.
The setting of the basement intensifies the interaction between them, as the reader knows someone is going to be killed which creates suspense for the reader. The isolation of the basement and the gun create tension and suspense as the author strives to show the reader that the friendship will not last.
The characters introduced are two rival gang members. They are told by the members of their gangs to settle a fight between the gangs instead of involving all the gang members and the police.
The author creates tension between them by only revealing facts about them bit by bit, which pulls the reader into the story and makes them want to reach the end of the story. By only including two characters in the isolated setting of the dark, damp basement, the author builds tension and creates suspense.
Throughout the story we are only given clues about Dave and Tigo but the reader is not told a lot about them to tension between the characters. Dave and Tigo try to act tough “their eyes locked” but gradually they begin to trust one another and this lulls the reader into a false sense of security that there will be a happy ending
Dialogue plays an important in increasing as the sentences are short and the characters are trying to out do one another “I’ve seen pieces before, this is nothing special”.
This condensed dialogue, however increases tension as the story progresses. The characters begin to lower their guard through the story and as they do their dialogue becomes friendlier and the sentence become longer, more involved, the tone is more suttle and friendly. The tone is less tense but as they come to firing of the trigger the sentences are shorter to build up tension and concentration.
The tone at the beginning of the story in times such as “I’ve seen pieces before, this is nothing special” was nervous and uneasy but further on in the story the tone is relaxed and friendly. The author also uses personification in “the jacket shrieked” as if the jacket was talking to him .
A sense of suspense is built up by the introduction of the gun and tension is also established as they are playing a game of life or death. The characters reactions and emotions as they pull the trigger build suspense because the reader is not sure if they will live or die, this lulls the reader into a false sense of security.
The author is trying to show the theme of conflict and his message that it can be overcome by communication rather than violence and that violence doesn’t end conflict it only makes it worse. Hunter succeeds in showing the reader that conflict occurs but they don’t know why they are fighting.
The author shows the theme of death by telling us that death comes in many forms, it can be tragic and not always pleasant “ripping away half of Dave’s face”. Friendships and relationships are revealed by the author to show the reader that enemies can have things in common and become friends, as it says, “If we didn’t do this operation we wouldn’t get a chance to talk”
The ending of the story is a shock to the reader but not a shock, as we know something is going to happen or someone is going to die. At the end when Dave is about to pull the trigger of the gun he says, “here’s to Sunday” which means he will or will not see him on Sunday.
After Dave dies Tigo cries and mourns his death which shows they were friends I think the author wanted to show that death is tragic therefore he made Daves death tragic “ripping away half of daves face”. The author also wanted to build tension between Dave and Tigo through the story to create a sad ending by his use of word repetition and personification which pulls the reader into the story and yet lulls the reader into a false sense of security into a happy ending which is effective.
