The Battlers Commentary

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‘The Battlers’ Commentary In this passage, the third person omniscient narration reveals Snow’s environment and his solitude. By including a lack of action, description of Snow’s relationships with others and of the hostile imagery relating to the weather and elements, Tennant creates a foreboding atmosphere to the effect that a sense of expectancy and anticipation immediately heightens the tension at the opening of ‘The Battlers’. As Tennant delays the action in the opening of her Australian novel, a sense of anticipation is
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created in the expectant audience. The inclusion of narrative hooks at the passage’s opening, such as ‘If Snow had taken the road through Belburra, instead of the track through Currawong, his whole life would have run a different course’, alludes to a great change of attitude or events, yet because no further action or events are narrated in this passage and Snow remains an unchanging static character throughout this extract, this delay in the expected life-changing action serves to dramatically heighten the tension in the novel. Furthermore, Snow’s destination is revealed to be ‘home’, although he is unenthusiastic about this, ...

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