Tension is not only built up by presence of words but perhaps more so by the absence of them. “We heard a man’s shout.” and “We turned to look across the field and saw danger.” both convey tension because of the lack of more information. Withholding further details about the man’s shout and the danger makes us move on to the next sentence and so on and so on. The result is a fast flowing river of tension that is indeed “addictive” so this is a very effective weapon in McEwans arsenal. “The encounter that would unhinge us was minutes away,” again this brings up anxiety in us because we don’t know enough about this “encounter”.
At one point in the opening McEwan describes things from a different viewpoint, “through the eyes of the buzzard” “five men running silently towards the centre of a hundred-acre field”, this adds to the opening because it provides a different perspective of what is going on while still mounting tension. This description is also used because it also shows how strange it must seem to the buzzard high above the ground unaware to the reasoning behind the movement of the men. It shows that the men are unorganised and unprepared for what is about to be thrust upon them they are just like animals running by instinct. This is good for a opening because it gives some much needed information and a new perspective for it, it also is used to build up tension as the reader wants to get back down to the action.
The wind is described quite a lot in the opening this is because it is seen as being the natural driving force behind the events. McEwan almost makes the wind sound alive like a ravenous beast. Adjectives like “strong”, “whining”, “mighty fist”, and “vicious” are used to emphasise the power of nature, this is effective for a opening because it provides a enemy that we are frightened of, later on in the chapter we are waiting for the next fatal blow to knock the balloon off the ground, “the first was vicious” “before the shouting could resume, the second punch came and knocked the balloon up”. Throughout this paragraph where the incident is coming to its climax the reader is very anxious and tensed and this makes the opening effective.
The opening also gives us a good picture of some of the characters and what to expect from them. Joe’s scientific interests and thinking patterns appear even at this early stage, “I don’t know how she resisted the urge to run” “comforting geometry” “limited plane” “that elemental gas” and such phrases show Joe is a logical thinker that relates things he sees to science and maths. He can’t understand how Clarissa resists “the urge to run”, this shows he has difficulty understanding Clarissa’s illogical behaviour and is confused by it. McEwan effectively draws Joe’s character out of him from the very start, this gets the reader to relate to the characters more, and this is an effective writing technique.
The narrator reveals almost nothing about Joe’s relationship with Clarissa apart from that they share a childless marriage, but doesn’t offer us any reasons to why. He does this deliberately, leaving the reader needing more information to feed their addiction that this opening chapter has created.
The other main character that is introduced is Jed Parry. Joe is drawn to him and refers to him more than the other men that were involved in the rescue. Jed is unemployed and living off and inheritance. At this point, not much else is revealed about Jed. Joe when referring to him usually does so very briefly and often after the rest of the characters. Another interesting and effective style used by McEwan is to leave Parry at the end of the paragraph like when he says, “as for parry, my view of him was blocked by the balloon”, this is very brief and leaving it at the end of the paragraph gives a ominous ring to it. The opening chapter has so little of Parry we are not left in any suspicion of him and we are unprepared and susceptible to the change of the books plot that gradually centres more and more around the activities of him.
Also, the minor characters are introduced in this chapter, the main one being, John Logan. Logan was a Doctor and married with two children. He was also part of a mountain rescue team. He too was part of the crew that attempted to rescue the young boy, mentally trapped in the hot-air balloon. When the other’s had let go of the ropes, he was still there, holding on, until eventually he either let go or lost his grip and then fell to his death. Which we are left to assume, as it is not clear who actually dies, as again the narrator is leaving the reader in need of more information.
There are many innuendo’s regarding the ‘relationship’ between Joe and Parry. The narrator, uses a lot of strange phrases to describe Jed, "Rushing towards each other like lovers." Everything that he talks about, describes, and does, always lead back to Jed more than any of the other men involved in the rescue attempt. "As for Jed Parry my view of him was blocked by the balloon that lay between us," symbolically its only the balloon that is in-between and keeping them apart. There was no need to mention him either - but he still does. Joe seems to be focusing on Jed and still there’s no apparent reason revealed to us, as to why that is.
The final paragraph of the opening section, “We were running towards a catastrophe” is very intense and effective because the reader knows Joe is running headfirst into the “catastrophe” and is left feeling anxious of what is going to happen next. “And fates would buckle into new shapes”, this line is effective because he hints of what is too come the disaster will mould into a new shape which Joe is referring to as Parry. The last line of this final paragraph is also very long and flowing, which makes it gather suspension and dread throughout it. The last part of this sentence “a boy” “a man in need of help” gives the reader the subjects of the “catastrophe” and builds momentum for the stories conclusion.
An interesting style present in the opening chapter is the way that McEwan leaves gaps between the actual balloon stories. He fills these gaps with other stories not anything directly to do with the incident, this technique builds up the characters and what we know of them and makes us even more eager to hear or “addicted” to the balloon story. I think this is both interesting and effective and found when I was reading the book that I was drawn to every word.
Styles and techniques present in the opening of “Enduring Love” are important because they make the reader more likely to carry on reading the rest of the book. What is really interesting here is that the main event is in the first chapter this leaves the reader empty and desiring more from the book after the first chapter. I think this make the book interesting and certainly makes it different, from high point of the opening the book falls down and builds slowing up again to the final climax. I think this is effective.
