Stylistic Analysis of Jesse Stuart's "Love" by Abrosimova Elizaveta
Love is a short story written by the famous American author of the 20th
century Jesse Stuart.
The story is presented in the first person. The narrative in the novel is
conducted in chronological order. This work is characterized by a typical
construction of the story: the exposition, the beginning of the event, the development
of the event and the denouement. The development of events takes up most of the
story. Each episode has its own mood.
The exact location of the action is not specified; we can predict that it is a
farm, thanks to a detailed description of nature. The author does not mention the
exact time when this story happened. On the contrary, he simply points out that it
was yesterday and it was a “dry spring". The special diction used in the story
emphasizes the gloomy and depressing mood: “Withered, dead, dried up, killed.”
The first episode presents the moment when the dog was ordered to kill the
snake. The author uses some stylistic techniques that reveal more details about the
characters and the story itself. Repetition of exclamation sentences “Kill him, Bob!
Kill him!” it shows the father's attitude to snakes. He also mentions that he hates
snakes because they only harm nature. Exclamation points are also used to make it
clear and emphasize that something bad is about to happen. The author creates the
atmosphere of an upcoming terrible event. He uses for this purpose such words as:
“poison, fight, kill, enemy, hate...".
The second episode describes how a dog kills a snake. Many comparisons
were used to express the torment of the snake: “.She acted like a green weed held
over a new-ground fire...”, “With this comparison, the narrator wanted to emphasize
the fact that the animal has the same traits as a human, and it can also suffer pain
when it is killed. The author of the story uses short sentences to create tension,
intrigue and fear in the minds of readers. There is an atmosphere of cruelty and
hostility in this episode. The special diction used in the story emphasizes the mood:
“Pain, anger, poise...”
The third episode is dedicated to the character's reflections on what happened.
The boy changes his attitude to the situation and feels guilty. He started calling the
snake “she” and not “it”, which proves his changed attitude to the importance of the
animal. He thought about what might have happened if the dog hadn't started
torturing the snake. Another hint proving the guilt of the main character is the
description of nature. In this passage we can find many symbols that are relevant to
this story.” A lark was singing. It was late for a lark to sing. .”The singing of a bird
coincides with the death of a snake. The figurative meaning of this phrase is that the
snake was pregnant and full of life, but was killed. We can also find in the passage
the red color, which symbolizes strong emotions - feelings of guilt, sadness and pain
of the boy. In this episode, the mood changed from cruel to mournful and
compassionate.
Then the story comes to a climax. The boy and the father were surprised to
see another snake that came to look at his dead love. The author describes in detail
the actions of the snake to make the climax and spectacular. “The male snake chased
her to her death. He found his beloved dead. He was curled up next to her, and she
was dead. This scene is described in a romantic style, as if the author wanted to touch
the reader's heart. The author conveys to us the feelings and emotions of the
characters through the description of their actions: "His eyes opened wide." This
body language emphasizes that the father was amazed to see this. The denouement
is quite expected, since the title foreshadowed that love is the main idea in this story.
Then the story comes to a climax. The boy and the father were surprised to
see another snake that came to look at his dead love. The author describes in detail
the actions of the snake to make the climax and spectacular. “ The male snake had
trailed her to her doom. He had come in the night, under the roof of stars, as the
moon shed rays of light on the quivering clouds of green. He had found his lover
dead. He was coiled beside her, and she was dead." This scene is described in a
romantic style, as if the author wanted to touch the reader's heart. The author
conveys to us the feelings and emotions of the characters through the description of
their actions: "His eyes grew wide apart." This body language emphasizes that the
father was amazed to see this. The denouement is quite expected, since the title
foreshadowed that love is the main idea in this story.
The conflict of this story is the conflict between nature and man. "We tend to
assume that animals have no feelings and emotions, and only humans can
experience love - although this is not true .." The title of the story love reflects this
conflict. It was love that helped two people to look at the world from a different
point of view, to think about their life decisions.