Touching the Void Analysis
ANALYSIS
• Choice of words- The first line shows the bold strong words that show aggression and the capital letters emphasises his anger, frustration and pain. His anger can be said to be directed at several things – his painful knee, his climbing partner Simon lowering him and causing pain to his knee and his anger at himself that his injury has caused them this distress and difficulty.
• When you’re angry, you often erupt in saying things that you may not normally say. Joe describes himself as uttering “a tirade of obscenities”, this shows he did more swearing than just the second line of this particular passage. It puts his swearing in context – he shows that he was relying on this to show his anger, even though he describes them as “idiot words” and “meaningless”.
• They had managed to reach the highest point of the mountain and the frustration has kicked in because it is on the descent that his knee was broken. This passage really shows the range of emotions he is going through… this is reflected in the language used. It is a matter of life and death.
• Simpson shows us a range of emotions through his sentence structure and use of language. He articulates some of his feelings, like “bitterness” and “grievance”; but we can also infer some of his feelings from his writing. In the sentence “I cried for myself and swore at myself” it is clear he feels pity for himself as well as anger; so his emotions are directed at himself, pity for what he is suffering and also anger that he is endangering his friend, Simon. This shows us the nature of the bond between climbers they rely on each other but can also feel great guilt if they feel they have done something to endanger another climber. This shows us the great responsibility climbers have for their climbing partners. Furthermore, to cry can be seen as a more feminine reaction while swearing is seen as a more masculine reaction to a problem – this shows the range of his emotions and the confusion he feels; in this
• Choice of words- The first line shows the bold strong words that show aggression and the capital letters emphasises his anger, frustration and pain. His anger can be said to be directed at several things – his painful knee, his climbing partner Simon lowering him and causing pain to his knee and his anger at himself that his injury has caused them this distress and difficulty.
• When you’re angry, you often erupt in saying things that you may not normally say. Joe describes himself as uttering “a tirade of obscenities”, this shows he did more swearing than just the second line of this particular passage. It puts his swearing in context – he shows that he was relying on this to show his anger, even though he describes them as “idiot words” and “meaningless”.
• They had managed to reach the highest point of the mountain and the frustration has kicked in because it is on the descent that his knee was broken. This passage really shows the range of emotions he is going through… this is reflected in the language used. It is a matter of life and death.
• Simpson shows us a range of emotions through his sentence structure and use of language. He articulates some of his feelings, like “bitterness” and “grievance”; but we can also infer some of his feelings from his writing. In the sentence “I cried for myself and swore at myself” it is clear he feels pity for himself as well as anger; so his emotions are directed at himself, pity for what he is suffering and also anger that he is endangering his friend, Simon. This shows us the nature of the bond between climbers they rely on each other but can also feel great guilt if they feel they have done something to endanger another climber. This shows us the great responsibility climbers have for their climbing partners. Furthermore, to cry can be seen as a more feminine reaction while swearing is seen as a more masculine reaction to a problem – this shows the range of his emotions and the confusion he feels; in this