Half-way thought page 130, we see dialogue between Nagasaki Jim and Martin – ‘Hello,’ he said pleasantly…What’s your name...Would you like to see my gun’. In this dialogue, we see Nagasaki Jim trying to seduce Martin into coming into his room. To show this Martin Booth uses positive diction such as ‘pleasantly’ and ‘nice’. This builds suspicion in the mind of the audience. It makes us question ourselves why Nagasaki Jim is doing this and is what he is going to do now.
The description during the dialogue, of how Martin was cautious shows us that even though Martin is a daring boy, he does sense that Nagasaki may do something. The simile ‘My seventh puerile sense was tingling like a high-tension cable’ emphasizes the feeling of something dangerous going to happen. By comparing his childish feeling to a high-tension cable gives me the impression for the first time in the book that Martin may back-off because of his fears and leave. Negative diction such as ‘cautiously’ and phrases such as ‘I’ll wait here’ again highlights the fear that Martin is currently is experiencing.
The quote ‘The metal was warm and smooth and smelt of gun lubricating oil’ suggests that Martin loves the gun. It is probably the only why Martin has stayed in Nagasaki’s place. The author uses positive sensory ‘warm’ and ‘smooth’ (touch) and ‘smelt of lubricating oil’ (smell) to show this to use. ‘Warm’ and ‘smooth’ make the gun seem like a cuddly item (i.e. like a teddy bear) when in fact a gun is a horrible item which is used to kill people.
The audience is shocked and devastated when Nagasaki says ‘Show me your winkle’. The tension and pressure is finally broken. From this line we, the audience figure that Nagasaki is a very narrow minded man.
The simile followed by the quote above ‘I was not as green as I was cabbage-looking’ shows that Martin knows what is happening. Thought the simile, Martin tries to say that he is not dumb however the words (cabbage-looking) used by the author gives us an impression that Martin is naïve. The author reminds us that Martin is still a young boy.
‘Nagasaki Jim hanged himself’ is a shock, sudden impact for the audience. The comma gives a short and sharp end to the chapter. This line makes us the audience feel sorry for him, even thought he did all does bad things.
