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Kiss Of The Fur Queen Analysis

Good Essays

In Tomson Highway’s novel Kiss of the Fur Queen the opening passage transports the reader to the harsh, cold, and intense struggle of the caribou hunter, Abraham Okimasis during a championship husky sled race. Any race often proves to be physically and mentally exhausting for a person. Highway utilizes a fantastic variety of literary devices to dramatize Okimasis’ physical and emotional experience through his last leg of the race by creating a powerfully intense atmosphere through the effective use of descriptive imagery, passionate diction, repetition of words, and a tone of desperation. To begin with, the author utilizes descriptive vivid imagery to awaken the reader’s sensory perception, and it helps the reader to realistically envision …show more content…

The author makes the desperation obvious by saying, “the desperation in his voice, like a man about to sob.” This not only depicts how desperate Okimasis is, but how emotionally draining the race is and that he will try to pull out a win, sobbing or not. In addition, Highway tries to get the reader to see what’s really going through Okimasis’ mind through his strong use of diction. The author includes the lines, “he was not leading. What mattered was that he was not going to win the race.” Including the phrase, “what mattered” demonstrates that winning is the main reason in Okimasis’ mind and that it doesn’t matter who is behind or in front, but that all he wants to do is win. Another interesting way in which Highway brings out Okimasis’ desperation is through his communication with the dogs. For example, Highway includes how Okimasis consistently yells “mush” during the race . This demonstrates how aggressive and desperate he is to win. Not only howmany times Okimasis yells “mush,” but it’s how he Highway says that he says it. ‘ “Mush! he cried, “mush,” ‘ clearly illustrates a tone to show that Okimasis virtually just desires to win the race. He even refers to the word “mush,” as the “sole word left that could feed them,” which means that Okimasis was lacking ways to keep himself and the dogs motivated to continue pushing forward. …show more content…

These devices hook the reader and allow them to use their senses to experience the adventure within the passage. The physical and emotional experience of Okimasis becomes vivid to the reader and captivates their attention to the end of the finish

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