Malmar McknightS The Storm Essay Research Paper

Larry Haney Haney 1

English 113/02

Mr. Griffith

The Storm

Malmar McKnight?s frightening story, ?The Storm?, weaves a violent storm and murder together to heighten the horrific fears that engulf Janet Willsom. ?The Storm? is a combination of Mother Nature, Janet?s emotions, and her heartbreaking dilemmas. The eerie mood is revealed throughout the story. Figurative language helps the reader bring the story to life in his/ her mind. The author?s use of irony is devolved through Janet?s changed perception of the storm.

Throughout the story, the mood becomes more suspenseful. As Janet walks out of the strong spring storm and enters her cold damp house, she is overcome by feelings of isolation and loneliness. Her husband is not there; there are dead plants around her house as if nobody has been there for a long time. The rain and wind continues to pound against the house. As Janet sits alone in the dark, she can hear noises around the house. She also thinks that she sees a face in the window. As she enters the damp, musty, ill-lit cellar you can feel the suspense building. Malmar continues to use these types of images up to the conclusion of the story.

The author uses a lot of figurative language throughout the story. The forceful wind is compared to a dog shaking a rat between its teeth. As Janet tried to calm herself, the idea that a dead woman was in the basement of her house began to beat at her like a flail. The idea that she was frozen with freight was

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illustrated by her body being like a drawn bow. Examples of more figurative language can be found throughout the text.

The most obvious idea of irony is the storm itself. In the beginning of the story, Janet felt the storm was scary and her house and husband were the only areas of safety. She had confined herself to one area of the house and snuggled in her husband?s coat to keep the storm from surrounding her. At the end when her husband frightened her, Janet no longer felt safe at home or with her husband. So she ran out into the raging storm for protection from within. It is ironic that the storm in the beginning was her greatest fear and in the end, it became her greatest ally.

The author?s frightening story, ?The Storm? has all the expected things that a good scary story should have. It has a story line that gains suspense throughout the story, there is irony, and there is lots of figurative language. These 3 items together create a very good and scary story line. By creating a story line that inter links a violent storm and a murder by someone who is close to Janet, creates one great story.