The Effectiveness of Literal Device in Stories
The critique text discussed in the paper is an article called, “A Palace in the Old Village.” The author of the book is Tahar Ben Jelloun. Having published it in 2009. It is an award-winning story of a man who stayed in France for Forty years and is planning to go back to his old country, Morocco. It is a very touching book with the author using many literary devices in it. The book is poetic, and thus, it can be heartbreaking to the reader due to its technicality. The author knows how to tell a story to the intended audience. Thus, it has won many awards and a majority of votes from those who have read it. The actual audience of the novel is not well mentioned, but we can categorically say that the book aimed to teach the general public a certain lesson especially the people of Mohammed’s home country.
The other stylistic device used in the story is a metaphor. It is used to explain how Mohammed felt about retiring. Unlike similes, the metaphor is an indirect comparison of two things. It does not use comparative words. At some point, Mohammed wondered why at all they were making him retire? He was not comfortable with the retiring idea and thus, he compared it to a trap. The metaphor present here is “ it is a trap.” (Jelloun & Tahar 30). The other directly compares the retirement of Mohammed to trap without the use comparative terms. The use of metaphor is almost similar to that of similes. The use of these devices is imperative and correct use of it makes the writing fascinating. However, for the metaphor and simile to be effective, one should use a comparison of substance that is common to the audience. In our case, the audience of the story is the Moroccans, whose traps are familiar. Therefore, they have a good understanding of how the traps work. If the subject used in symbolism is unfamiliar to the audience, it will be meaningless to them. A proper selection of the symbolism should be keenly selected. The author uses this device to reduce the boredom of ordinary writing. The reader can understand the text well (Baldick 35).
Tahar Ben Jelloun can make a selection of words and imagery to invoke thinking of the audience. Imagery is an important tool to the continuation of a story. Throughout the story, Mohammed can recall different images of things that happened in various stages of his life. He demonstrates to us how Mohammed reacted on the first time he saw the sea during the slave trade and the reader can imagine that experience. The feeling can obviously be fascinating for the audience.
Moreover, Jelloun enhances the readability of the story by using soliloquy, which is well employed in the book. Mohammed’s thoughts are well captured in a soliloquy state of “Wait: will there be houses and stores in the afterlife?” Employing such kind of linguistic tool shows the mood of the character in the description. In our case, Mohammed is well captured and appears to be questioning his innocence. He seems to be doing all this questioning after the Eid-al-Kebir Party. Soliloquy is a literacy tool that can capture the audience and make the scene lively to the reader.
Lastly, the author, Tahar Ben Jelloun employs the direct quotation style. He directly quotes someone shouting “Demokratia al Haki kya.” (Jelloun 34). This means democracy and the truth. This is a stylistic tool that enables the transition of thoughts in the book. Through this, the author is able to demonstrate how rivalry that exists between democracy itself and the truth. Through direct quotations, the scene looks lively to the reader and a pictorial illusion is able to form in his or her mind.
In conclusion, the author captures the audience using varying styling devices that bring the vivid state in the story. The audience can find it amusing hence giving it more and more votes every year.
Works Cited:
Baldick, Chris. "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms." Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.
Jelloun, Tahar Ben. A Palace in the Old Village. Arcadia Books Limited, 2011.
