Ian McEwan uses many techniques in order to portray the characters within his novel; we gain knowledge of Joes’ character through the narrative. The novel is written in the first person narrative of Joe Rose, his use of language clearly shows that he is well educated through his long descriptive sentences,

“My impression was that at the moment of impact the little stick figure flowed or poured outwards across the ground, like a drop of viscous fluid”.

Another portrayal of his elevated education is in his scientific justifications for the events that occur in life,

“We were running towards a catastrophe, which itself was a kind of furnace in whose heat identities and fates would buckle into new shapes”.

This is very effective, the metaphor of a furnace represents the changing of state, and this is an example of foreshadowing. This narrative effect suggests something will happen further on in the novel. The word buckle suggests an element of pain and that lives will be changed for good against the will of the people involved. This proves that science reflects his background and the na

The description of his voice clashes with this statement causing a conflict between image and audible features.

Although we are introduced to both characters we cannot completely trust the evidence that seems to suggest this as it is written from the narrators point of view which will be biased as he, Joe, obviously felt threatened by Parry. The opinion we get of both characters is from Joe so it would be unfair to make a full assumption of their personalities without reading on, this is a very effective technique used by McEwan as it gives the reader a good reason to continue analysing the characters further by reading the novel. However, the knowledge gained by the reader in the first two chapters becomes very influential throughout the novel and McEwan makes sure that the assumptions made at this point are valid later on to the rest of the story that he has created so much tension for.

McEwan uses many ways to express his characters using similes, metaphors, alliteration and foreshadowing each of these has a positive effect on the readers understanding.

“A beautiful woman loved and wanted to be loved by a large, clumsy, balding fellow who could hardly believe his luck”. Joe has completely opposite views to Clarissa, whose passions lie in literature and the arts, as he is a very rational and often cynical thinker. He also dismisses the notion of the soul as he bases all his conclusions and private thoughts on the facts of science,

When the reader is introduced to Parry, the first impressions we get are of an obsessive nature,

Some topics in this essay:
Daumas Gassac”, Joe Parry, Joe Rose, Jed Parry’s, Jed Parry, Ian McEwan, introduced parry, narrative effect, joe parry, parry character, suggests happen, characters joe,