The storyline of the extract is quite exciting and catchy, as the author has placed the main character in a circumstance that is full of danger from the beginning of the extract. The three simple words at the very beginning of the extract, “The ship sank”, didn’t only describe the situation but also left place for the reader’s imagination. Although no other descriptive words are used here, but the readers can immediately draw a picture in their minds of black clouds, strong wind, frightening thunders and roaring sea. In this situation when the main character is lonely and scared, the fact he suddenly sees the Bengal Tiger that he knows makes him happy (“how good to see you, Richard Parker!”) and creates the first climax as well. Yann Martel has created several climaxes (where there are hopes to save the tiger) and low tides (where the tiger is drowning and fails to grab the lifebuoy) in this relatively short extract, which almost forces the readers to experience the same feeling as if they are on a roller coaster. Right after the highest climax, where Richard Parker was saved, the readers receive the biggest fall, where they get to know that Richard Parker was actually a “three-year-old adult Bengal Tiger” that can easily kill the narrator. The extract ends at the point when the narrator jumps overboard, which make the ending full of unpredictability and suspense.
The personification plays an important role in this text, as it is not revealed till the end to the reader that Richard Parker, who the narrator tries to save, is an adult Bengal tiger. The unexpectedness is created by the Bengal Tiger’s human surname “Parker” and how the narrator addresses to the tiger using the pronoun “he”, rather than the usual “it”. From the annotation we can see the narrator was very likely a zookeeper (or son of a zookeeper), which explains why he values animals almost as much as his father, mother, and brother Ravi, shown by personifying other animals like “birds, beasts and reptiles” and calling them his “extended family.” These personifications clearly show the attachment between the narrator and the animals, because only those who really love and respect animals use words like “he”, “she” or “family” to represent them.
There are quite a lot of sound effects used in this extract, and many of them are effectively creating tension in the story and helping for the readers to understand the text better. Starting from the first paragraph, Yann Martel uses phrases like “a monstrous metallic burp” to describe the sound produced by the sinking ship. This gives the readers a feeling as if the sea was a monster that was satisfied (the satisfaction is created by the word “burp” that usually occurs when someone enjoyed a meal) after swallowing the ship. Verbs such as “bubbled” and “screaming” are very vivid because they all describe processes where sounds are given off. Other than the words mentioned above, the author also uses direct sound effects like “TREEEEEE” and “HUMPF” to portray the noises caused by whistling and the lifebuoy hitting the water. These words are even more effective than the other sound effects, because they represent specific sounds and are highlighted with capital letters and italic style. They grab the readers’ attentions and in a way serve for the story as small climaxes and breaks where the readers can pause for some time and then continue with their reading.
By using various literary techniques, Yann Martel has effectively told a story about a battle for life between nature, tiger and man. Without any of the elements that are analyzed above, will make this piece of literary work dull and tiresome for the audience.
