Ondaattje Critique

There is an experiment in this piece in the form, though it is hard to describe exactly what it is. It opens in first person with sentence fragments. There is an element of mystery with the mention of “the other” and an exaggerated onomatopoeia trailing into a contrasting onomatopoeia for the second section. This section is third person and there is a sense of speaking, as the narrator refers to a diagram which the reader cannot see. The contrast of two situations is exaggerated in the lack of punctuation and unconventional spacing of the word “Meanwhile” between two passages.  The spoken words in the next two paragraphs are undifferentiated from the rest of the text, even though they are in Spanish. The next and final section appears to be poetic, a flashing of brief, distinct images, like lightning flashing across a sky.  This is in first person, implied to be Pete Maxwell, different than in the first use of first person, as Pete is mentioned there by name. Again dialogue is undifferentiated, although in English. This creates less pauses and a greater sense of the immediacy of these events. There are images which are surrealistic and jarring. This could be an illustration of the delirium due to his wound, “the bullet itch frozen in my head.” Each of these different sections serves to bring the reader into the story through experiencing what the characters are, instilling a sense of normalcy and then one of disorientated hallucination.