Darl
pp. 10-13
Quote: “And at night it is better still. I used to lie on the pallet in the hall, waiting until I could hear them all asleep, so I could get up and go back to the bucket. It would be black, the shelf black, the still surface of the water a round orifice in nothingness, where before I stirred it awake with the dipper I could see maybe a star or two in the bucket, and maybe in the dipper a star or two before I drank.” p. 11
The main rhetorical device used is personification. Darl personifies the water when he says “where before I stirred it awake”. A bucket of water, symbolically, seems pretty simple (a reflection of Darl). The water, however, is filled with water, which is, throughout literature, viewed as a way of purifying. Darl repeats the word “black”, to emphasize the darkness of the scene (imagery), which is a reflection of the night sky, with the “star or two”. The acknowledgement of the stars in the water expresses the connection Darl has with nature. By drinking the water, he is drinking the reflection of the stars-- he is intertwined with nature.
Darl’s narration and point of view entails an immense amount of descriptive language. Darl, a typical southerner, is slow when speaking, which is emphasized by all the adjective use, which physically slows the reader down. Darl’s narration is so descriptive that the reader inevitably imagines the sight of the water Darl is drinking. The picture not only depicts the way Darl describes the water, but also, the bead of water, I feel, exemplifies Darl’s world within the water. He continually talks about the water, and how he waits for everyone to be asleep, I feel as though the water serves to not only make Darl happy, but also to let him escape reality.
pp. 10-13
Quote: “And at night it is better still. I used to lie on the pallet in the hall, waiting until I could hear them all asleep, so I could get up and go back to the bucket. It would be black, the shelf black, the still surface of the water a round orifice in nothingness, where before I stirred it awake with the dipper I could see maybe a star or two in the bucket, and maybe in the dipper a star or two before I drank.” p. 11
The main rhetorical device used is personification. Darl personifies the water when he says “where before I stirred it awake”. A bucket of water, symbolically, seems pretty simple (a reflection of Darl). The water, however, is filled with water, which is, throughout literature, viewed as a way of purifying. Darl repeats the word “black”, to emphasize the darkness of the scene (imagery), which is a reflection of the night sky, with the “star or two”. The acknowledgement of the stars in the water expresses the connection Darl has with nature. By drinking the water, he is drinking the reflection of the stars-- he is intertwined with nature.
Darl’s narration and point of view entails an immense amount of descriptive language. Darl, a typical southerner, is slow when speaking, which is emphasized by all the adjective use, which physically slows the reader down. Darl’s narration is so descriptive that the reader inevitably imagines the sight of the water Darl is drinking. The picture not only depicts the way Darl describes the water, but also, the bead of water, I feel, exemplifies Darl’s world within the water. He continually talks about the water, and how he waits for everyone to be asleep, I feel as though the water serves to not only make Darl happy, but also to let him escape reality.
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