Introduction
Analyzing the descriptive measured adopted by Peake to depict Abiatha Swelter
Swelter is depicted as the extremely fat, huge, and sadistic chef who was in charge of the Gormenghast kitchen. The intended depiction of his gigantic figure becomes evident from following lines of his introductory narrative where he could not heave himself away from the support of adjoining pillars and a cask of wine in the kitchen as he was trying to address the other chefs in the kitchen.
“He made one feeble effort to heave himself away from a pillar and to deliver his verses at a more imposing angle, but incapable of mustering the strength he sank back” (Peake 150 ).
This description shows the enormity of the Swelter’s body structure as he had the lesser physical strength to maintain his posture on his own. The next set of lines explains the reaction of the other people in the kitchen as they mocked and applauded over the presence of a limpid smile on the huge face of the chef, placed high above them. This description explains the aspects of vertical scales of Swelter’s personality. However, in the later part of the introductory narrative has a further exaggeration of Swelter’s latitudinal reach as a person.
“There was a sound of something spreading as an area of seven flagstones became hidden from view beneath a catalyptic mass of wine-drenched blubber” (Peake 150).
This descriptive style makes a sort of visual analogy between a big sized fish getting harpooned or a heavy baloon getting punctured to deflate its giant volume across the horizontal reach. The above-stated description illustrates that Swelter covered a span of seven flagstones at a single stretch of his movement. This definitely illustrates that rhetorical way of explaining that either the flagstones used in the Gormenghast kitchen were pretty small or the size of Abiatha Swelter made them so easily covered that they looked negligible in front of his physical presence. Thus, the name of Abiatha Swelter is literally depicted as a fatherly figure who dominated over the poor workers in the Gormenghast kitchen and was generally roaring drunk to take their command with full authority at all times.
Conclusion
Mervyn Peake utilized the comparative standards of rhetorical description to illustrate the physical enormity of Abiatha Swelter’s size. The comparison of his size to other heavy and huge parts in the kitchen like pillars, wine cask, and flagstones made it easier or Peake to explain the gigantism on a relative scale. Also, there was a viewpoint of normal sized humans in the kitchen which gave his visual appearance a drastic demarcation in terms of a comparison with them. The name Abiatha implies ‘abundant’ in Hebrew and this literal meaning was actually depicted via his physical presence in the novel by using all the above-mentioned descriptive styles.
Works Cited
Peake, Mervyn."Gormenghast". Great Britain: Vintage Books. 1998.Print.
