Tyres

The following extract has been taken from the short story “Tyres” written by Adam Thorpe. The passage involves the narration of a sudden death of a young girl, Cecile. The story is written in such a way that the narrator is made to be the boy who was seemingly in love with the girl who dies. The story is written from his point of view and thus even gives the reader an insight to his thoughts and feelings. The writer makes use of tone, language and imagery to convey the narrator’s point of view. This is done by using the technique of simple and not rigid language. The tone changes to accommodate the change in the narrator’s thoughts or feelings and thus, is able to convey his point of view successfully. Also, use of imagery has been made in such a way that the readers are able to create vivid pictures in their minds of the situation which occurs, thus reinforcing the point of view of the narrator.

The narration is from the point of view of a young boy who spends his time working in his father’s tyre shop. The tone in the passage goes through a gradual change, with the passage starting off with an irritated tone by the narrator at a French customer. It continues towards an element of mysterious suspicion when the boy hears, “the tickling of a bicycle”. He does not think it is the sound of Cecile’s bicycle. However, the tone can be said to be lighter at the beginning of the passage as the narrator is spending time with the girl he loves and is helping her by fixing the chain of her bicycle. A sense of restriction does seem to be created, however, because of the presence of a German customer. This reflects the time period of the Second World War and tells the reader that the French areas had been occupied by German. As the passage progresses it seems to adopt a more serious tone as the events that foillow are of great intensity and suspicion. As the girl pedals away, the tone finally becomes focused and the narrator’s worry of her safety is reflected in the tone adopted. The language used, facilitates the serious tone. The “banging of doors” signals a sense of urgency in the situation and makes the narrator aware of the fact that something was not right. When the narrator starts running after the girl, with his father calling out to him, and image of panic and worry is created. The narrator says, “an ominous sense of doom came over me: a kind of terrible chill”. This clearly conveys his fear for the girl’s safety and well-being.