How does Paver make this extract (p.148-149) frightening?
Paver uses many techniques to make this extract frightening. It is when Jack had just got lost but manages to find his way back to his cabin. He has already encountered a ghost and read about local folklore about the ghost and has another experience with the ghost. Paver uses techniques such as punctuation for effect, short sentences and mystery and she commonly shows lots of detail but rarely tells which means you cannot be sure till you read it.
Paver uses many ways to create fright for the reader, for example punctuation for effect. Paver says, “a black tide drowning…” (p.149). The ellipsis allows the reader the time to create an image and then to understand the terror. Also, a tide is normally blue or clear, similar to the sea, which seems normal and calm whereas this is black, dark and menacing, almost like Dark Matter. It reinforces that there is nothing normal about this place, for example, when Paver says, “Fog had darkened the blotchy stains to black”. When Paver says “drowning”, it gives the idea that there is some dark controlling ‘ghost’ that can drown a wave. It is particularly menacing because a black tide gives the reader the idea that it is powerful and almost has an agenda. The fact that the ghost can ‘drown’ this tide frightens the reader. The ellipsis creates fright because it is a pause in what Jack is saying so is there a problem, has Jack seen something and the ellipsis creates the time to think and imaging. The knowledge of the power of this ghost is especially frightening for the reader.