Enduring Love: Narrative Style Essay

Explore the narrative style Ian McEwan uses in Enduring Love

In the novel Enduring Love, McEwan has used many techniques to ensure chapter one is filled with insight and tension. He also works with different narrative skills of narration; each used in different ways for different effects.

First of all, McEwan uses tension throughout chapter one to keep the reader interested in the plot and wanting to read on. He capably releases and brings back tension in a short space of time as when he tells the reader that when the situation came under control and the balloon was stable, it quickly escalated again as although he had began to slow to a brisk walk it was clear John Logan knew something we didnt. Joe then got a sense of urgency and started to run as Logan kept on running. The fact that we are able to imagine Joe running towards the unknown gives the reader a sense of excitement and wonder as to what John Logan was aware of that Joe had clearly missed.

The way the wind is described also builds anxiety as when The wind renewed its rage in the treetops it became obvious and clear to the reader this was going to have large affects on the balloon and the safety of the people inside. The personification of the wind gives the wind characteristics and therefore gives the wind a more angry personality adding to the seriousness of the balloon accident.

At the beginning of the novel, the words the beginning is the simple to mark are words that are somewhat inaccurate as well as being very misleading for the reader. The beginning of the novel is obvious but when the novel is read, it is clear that the different story lines are unclear to Joe. When the accident was described as the beginning and of course the end is significant as it could be representing the different chapters in Joes life. This could have connotations towards Joes scientific and logical thinking as it could be seen as Joes life being full of routine and structure something that the rest of the novel breaks and sends Joe into a downward spiral. The fact that the balloon accident was described as simple to mark followed by the fact that such a large event was described as a pinprick on the time map immediately is building suspense for the rest of the novel as the reader finds it unimaginable to think of something greater than death possibly one of the first signs in the narrative of Joes selfishness.

Time seems to be the driving theme behind the novel and McEwan uses tenses to quickly move the story forward, fill the read in on past events that are important as well as frustrating the reader as he is holding back, delaying the information which is teasing the reader. This style of writing can be very annoying for the reader nonetheless the style of writing keeps the reader engrossed in the novel. Differentiating tenses is also a way of informing the reader interestingly.

The novel is narrated by Joe but this continues to make the reader get a sense of unreliability especially in Chapter one. He constantly asks the reader questions such as What was Clarissa doing? Something that readers may find frustrating as they are unable to provide that information. The reader gets the undependable impression as Joe also states that his re-telling of the accident is also shaped by what Clarissa saw too. This gives the reader a chance to doubt Joe as there are two perspectives which could be easily confused and mixed-up and confused.

Clarissa is an important character in the play and the fact that shes married to Joe makes the relationship slightly strained when looking closely. Clarissa is a specialist in the Romantic genre and her obsession with Keats is a key theme to the novel. When Joe tells the reader about the fact that that Clarissa collects Keats hidden loving, tender, adoring and somewhat passionate letters for a living and describes Clarissas interest in these hypothetical letters Joe describes his attempt at returning Clarissas own lessons that she is clearly passionate about with only facts, and they seemed miraculous enough to me. Clarissas love of romanticism (which provides hidden messages, Romantic and loving annotations as well as unanswered questions)juxtaposes Joes love of logic, understanding and intelligence.

McEwan uses statements a lot in chapter one to have a dramatic effect. When describing the way in which they tried to save the balloon together, the reader gets the sense Joe had a lack of power as he knew that although there were only five of them *We were never a team. But denies any failure on his part as It wasnt me and there was No failure although one man died. This is presenting Joe in a naive yet arrogant way as when the novel is read further, it is clear that from the moment on, Joe made a conscious effort to shift any blame there was onto someone else. The use of statements throughout chapter one is a constant reminder of how dramatic the scene is and how shocking it must have been for the witnesses to the man falling.