The author Michael Frayn has used many different devices in order to sustain the tension in the novel "Spies"

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What devices does Michael Frayn employ to sustain the tension in the novel?

The author Michael Frayn has used many different devices in order to sustain the tension in the novel “Spies”, an example of some of these techniques are the settings, characters, themes and language techniques including powerful descriptive passages, use of tenses and the questions the reader finds themselves asking constantly throughout the novel. All these play a different part in sustaining the tension, and collectively all develop anticipation in the text.

The language techniques that have been used play a crucial role in holding the suspense during the novel. In the very first chapter the reader can already find themselves asking questions about what will be happening later on in the novel, since they already begin to try and piece his memories and clues together to obtain the full story. From the beginning the reader is being pulled into the tale by Michael Frayn’s techniques of only providing the audience with snip-it’s of what’s happening, keeping the tension, and constantly building it up. Short sentences are used throughout the novel to increase tension as they produce pauses in text, making the reader stop and slow down before they read the next part of the story, a prime example of this in the novel is where there is a man behind Stephen, but he does not want to turn around and look, “I can’t move. I can’t breathe. And all at once the darkness dissolves in a flood of moonlight. Neither of us moves. Neither of us breathes”. A similar technique which can be commonly seen within this novel is the use of ellipses, these are once again used by authors as they make pauses in the story, show an unfinished thought or at the end of a sentence, trailing off into silence, “Cloth, yes… a lot of cloth… different sorts of cloth… some of it smooth, some of it fibrous… a hem… A button… Another button”.  The main effect that they have in the novel “Spies” is to expand and uphold suspense throughout the chapters. Imagery has been used as the employment of the vivid description can create clear images in the reader’s mind of what the characters and location of the novel is like. In chapter three Keith’s mother attempts to produce an image of herself, which is normal and part of the group, however the author uses imagery of “alien eyes” to describe her, giving clues to the reader that she is infact not standard and common at all, and infact quite the opposite as she is keeping secrets from everyone, and acting very unusual.

The use of tense, past and present, help the reader have a clearer understanding of what old Stephen is going through. He cannot remember all of his memories and is trying to piece together what happened by going back to his old home, and remembering what it was like to be young Stephen. The shift in tense shows his disorientation and loss of memory, also allowing the reader to follow his thoughts, trying to piece the mystery together with him, giving us active involvement in the development of the unknown, and keeping the reader hooked. Chapter five begins with the use of a paradox, “everything is as it was; and everything has changed”. This has been used as a device to sustain suspense in the novel as it does not only show the confusion of Stephen when he is trying to piece together his memories, but also keeps the reader interested since we want to discover what has changed, constantly drawing the reader further into the story. In some cases the reader may also be able to relate to this feeling, when smelling a familiar aroma it can occasionally feel for a moment like nothing has changed, but the reality is entirely the opposite, as they find themselves comparing their feelings to Stephens. The confusion we see of this character also brings in another device that Michael Frayn has employed in order to sustain the tension and show uncertainty in the text, the use of questions once again gets the reader involved in the novel as they are constantly asking themselves questions such as what is the ‘liguster’, and coming up with possible solutions as to Mrs. Haywards unusual actions.

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The characters behaviour in the novel helps to sustain the tension as the author has invented the nature of the characters so that they can be perceived as suspicious, and the audience can grow to be weary of them, whilst also trying to find out more throughout the book in order to understand the storyline. The main character that we are very suspicious of is Mrs Hayward. To someone who wasn’t familiar with her, her actions may come across as normal and nothing out of the ordinary, but as we see her behaviour and activities transform from being very ...

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