Ghent, Natale. No Small Thing. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd. September 16, 2004. Print.
The novel, No Small Thing, uses suspense in many ways. Natale Ghent leaves you wondering what's going to happen next in various scenes throughout the novel. The main character, Nathaniel, can't believe his luck when he finds an add for a free pony in the paper! Nat knows that things are hard for his mother: his dad walked out on her four years ago and she's been physically ill ever since, but, him and his sisters, Cid and Queenie, believe that the pony would help bring their family closer together! His mother does let them keep the pony, but throughout the novel there is much crisis between Nat and his mother about keeping it. Because they are a very poor family, his mother rather the little money they do have be spent on something more useful than a pony. Because of this crisis, at any point in the novel they could loose their pony, and as the reader, you get the impression they will in a few scenes. This creates suspense because you start to feel for the characters in the novel. For example, you feel how empty Nat feels without his father, and how the pony fills that hole in his heart. So when his mother suggests getting rid of the pony, you also feel the hurt that Nat is feeling. "You're a good boy, Smokey. I won't take you back no matter what Ma says." (Ghent, 56) This line in the novel just shows that there is crisis between Nat and his mother when it comes to keeping Smokey, and that Nat is determined to keep him no matter what.
The setting of No Small Thing also creates suspense. The location of the barn is kind of in a stranded location. So, when the barn catches on fire, there's no one around to see it, or save it. The other borders at the barn are all very strange people, which makes the barn even spookier than it already is. The sketchy characters creates suspense because you can never tell how they will react to different situations. "I let my eyes adjust for a second, and a big, red- faced man with a baseball cap comes into view. It's not Ted Henry. Except for the cap he look sand sounds like hairy gorilla." (Ghent, 64) This quote describes Nat's first impression of one of the other borders at the barn. Nat didn't have a very good first impression of this man, and his opinions of the same man only got worse with time. You could never tell how "the gorilla," was going to react, which created suspense.
The setting of No Small Thing also creates suspense. The location of the barn is kind of in a stranded location. So, when the barn catches on fire, there's no one around to see it, or save it. The other borders at the barn are all very strange people, which makes the barn even spookier than it already is. The sketchy characters creates suspense because you can never tell how they will react to different situations. "I let my eyes adjust for a second, and a big, red- faced man with a baseball cap comes into view. It's not Ted Henry. Except for the cap he look sand sounds like hairy gorilla." (Ghent, 64) This quote describes Nat's first impression of one of the other borders at the barn. Nat didn't have a very good first impression of this man, and his opinions of the same man only got worse with time. You could never tell how "the gorilla," was going to react, which created suspense.
You describe the significance well in this post. Your quotes reflect to Nat's first impressions. Good post.
ReplyDeleteVery well described significances . This sounds like a really nice book to read, would you recommend it?
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