John Knowles opens up the book like this to add another
dynamic to the telling of this story. The opening to this book first has an
adult version of the main character, Gene, who then reflects back on his past
life. We are allowed a little to what becomes of this character after his
experience at the Devon boarding school. At the beginning of the story he is
reflecting until the writing changes to a flashback. “(I) found it looking
oddly newer than when I was a student there” (Knowles, pg.9) is one of the first
lines of the book, but at page fifteen it changes to a flashback “he sprang
out, fell through the tops of some lower branches, and smashed into the
water” (Knowles, pg.16). These
quotes seem to both be in the present tense but in the second one Gene is a
child which indicates a flashback. This style of hook is used in a similar way
in to kill a mockingbird were they start from the end and make a full loop back
to were they started. That is why Knowles chose to begin the book in this
style.
One reason why John Knowles may have opened the book this way was so that he could do an in depth description of the setting without it sounding awkward. He can compare things from how they are in the present time to what they were like in the time of the flashback. For example when Gene visits the Devon school he goes to places with significance to him. This is shown when Gene narrates "(I) stopped at the foot of a long white marble flight of stairs" (Knowles, pg.11) Naturally the significance is described, painting a picture in the readers mind.
ReplyDelete