Touching the Void Essay: Language Techniques

In this essay I will discuss how the writer of Touching the Void has made use of language techniques to enable readers to fully empathize with Joes experience.

When Joe talks about his accident, he makes it sound quite dramatic. ...if theres just two of you and a broken ankle could turn into a death sentence... This quote shows that he took the accident very seriously and he illustrates this by making the story look like he would eventually die.

Throughout the story, the writer makes constant use of modal verbs. Simon would be ripped., He would leave me., I could see down a slope. These quotes are all examples of the use of modal verbs throughout the passage to show his desperateness. The modal verbs show us what he would be able to do or what he didnt do and could have done.

In the passage, personification is being used constantly. In this context, personification is mainly used to show the physical results of the fall. Examples of personification used to show this are: ...Pain flooded down... and My knee exploded. Is a clear example of how personification is being used to illustrate the damage that has been done to his knee. The personification in the passage is used to give the reader an idea of how it must have felt.

In touching the Void, exclamation marks are used to show extreme emotions. A good example of when this is being used is when Joe says in his account: My leg! My Leg! as this clearly shows the extreme emotion of that his leg is hurting more then what is normal. The exclamation marks also tell the people of when these extreme emotions are being used.

Probably one of the main techniques used to enable readers to fully empathise with Joes experience is the use of emotive language is the use of emotive language. This makes the readers feel the same way like Joe must have one when he fell of the cliff and got stuck. The use of emotive language demonstrates the hopelessness of Joe, his pain, and his thoughts at that particular time. They also make the reader feel in a particular way like happy, sad or even shocked. In this story, the writer is attempting to make the reader understand what Joe was facing and how he was feeling. Therefore, the emotive language used in the story attempts to make you feel sad, sorry for Joe and shocked about the events. An example of emotive language is: Im dead as this is so small but says a lot about his hopelessness and how hes feeling. Another example is when he says He would leave me. Because this shows that hes feeling lonely and scared to die. Other examples are: pain, I screamed., hurt, screaming and swearing. These all tell us something about how he was feeling physically and mentally.

In the story, the writer also uses language to show that Simon was in shock and could not take any action to save Simon. This also relates to Joes hopelessness. I couldnt help him, and it occurred to me that all in all likelihood he would fall to his death. I wasnt disturbed by the thought. This quote not only shows that Simon cant help Joe, but also that he doesnt really know what to think. Due to the shock his body couldnt function properly anymore. Simon also didnt see the use of helping him as he was sure about the fact that Joe would just fall to death.

In the passage, the writer has made a lot of use of language to make the readers empathize with Joes experience. He has used language to show his helplessness and his condition. In the language he has used modal verbs, personification, exclamation marks for the extreme conditions, and he has made big use of emotive language.

Source(s): Touching the Void by Joe Simpson