This becomes confusing as we have no previous knowledge. When Frank introduces his brother we learn that he used to set fire to dogs. However, after Frank tells us this he completely changes the subject leaving the audience puzzled.
The chapter prepares us for the horrific actions which we will observe throughout the rest of the novel as many of the key themes established here continue throughout the novel. This chapter challenges the reader’s perception of sympathy. The direct form of speech allows Frank, as the narrator, to influence the conversation’s tone. The readers view is biased through Frank’s first person narrative but as the reader sympathises with him, the language will suddenly change. The extract informs the writer of Frank’s enormous sense of ego and his strange attitude to the objects around him.
Throughout the chapter the manner is childlike. During the opening we are given a list of actions instead of going into his mind. This creates a very childish image of Frank and the use of simple conjunctions ‘but’ and ‘and’ reemphasise the childlike style. However during the telephone conversation between Frank and Eric the language becomes rather formal. Frank becomes an adult. This helps to portray Frank as the rational one whilst Eric is mad and out of control.
The first person narrative style only allows for Frank’s personal viewpoint, biasing the reader’s opinion and conditioning them to judge everybody by Frank’s standard. By using first person we can gain an understanding of the relationship between Frank and his father we can see the distance. It also enables the narrator to show Franks possessive nature towards the island.
Although we start to feel sympathetic for Frank throughout this first chapter we sometimes wonder whether he is really as reliable as he makes out. Frank justifies his killing of animals but presents Eric as a ‘loony’ as though his attitudes and values are not worthwhile. Frank see’s no similarity with himself. Frank has two sides, he is a complex individual on one hand complex, articulate, literary and poetic, on the other hand he is childish, truculent and savage this challenges the reliability of the chapter.
Bank uses lots of prolopetic irony. Many things that we ignore when we first read it have different meanings the second time. Frank describes the food that his father is cooking for him as a ‘warming mixture’ which hints that it contains more than just food. We later find out that Frank’s father is putting tablets in his ‘soup’ to make him more masculine.
Many of out images of Frank are encouraged by the lexical choice. On our first time of reading we think that Frank is a boy throughout most of the novel until the truth is revealed to us at the end. The use of ‘scratching’ my crotch’ is a connotation of male genetalia which we connect with masculinity. We then guess Frank is a boy by connecting these images to him. Frank carries a catapult around with him, an object which is usually associated with boys. However there is a direct contrast between the images of Frank playing with his crotch and the image of the wind playing with his hair. ‘The wind played with my hair’ is a feminine image and we would expect to associate this image to a woman. However the masculine images are the overruling image and we believe that Frank is a boy.
Banks also uses lots of childish connotations throughout the opening of the novel. ‘Scratching my crotch’ is a very childlike image and Frank carrying a catapult around with him has a childlike association.
When Frank describes his father to the reader the text has a negative semantic field. This indicates that their relationship is not entirely harmonious. The use of the word ‘father’ shows a formal language style which could imply distance. As Frank first enters the room, he explains ‘the wave rose slowly between us’ describing the smoke in the room. Once again this establishes distance between them. When Frank see’s his dad he starts ‘fidgeting’ which shows he is comfortable and nervous with his father. He shows respect to his father throughout the novel however he obviously does not like to feel overpowered. Frank explains why his father would want him to do something, says ‘and anyway’, then explains why he want to do it. Here he is trying to make out that he is doing it more out of choice than because his father has told him to. He establishes his father as manipulative and obsessive.
Eric’s vocabulary swings throughout the telephone conversation. Eric is portrayed as intelligent but violent and abusive. The vocabulary of the conversation allows Banks to contrast Eric and Frank, showing us two different and at the same time similar characters.
His childlike syntax shocks as it details abhorrent acts. We also see this throughout the novel with Frank
Banks uses lots of imagery, especially horrific imagery and that of Mother Nature. Nature plays an important part in franks life. We can see this in Bank’s lexis choice. Frank uses nature as his tide bearer. He has to complete his duty ‘before the sun went down’. He says he knows when the policeman leaves because, ‘the birds told me’. This means he must’ve been in the situation before to understand what the bird mean.
Frank is very egotistical. He asserts ‘I was too well hidden’, the vocabulary shows us that Frank thinks he is better than the policeman. Frank also explains ‘I had been wise enough to check the poles…and now I knew my aim was still good’ once again he shows his ego.
There is also an image of seclusion through the image of the bridge. The image of the sign saying ‘Keep Out Private Property’ emphasises this seclusion.
