A Face in the Dark Themes and Literary Style
For a fun animated video explanation, click here: https://youtu.be/s5mdOSC1vlU
Setting
The initial part of the story is set in a pine forest in Simla, while towards the end of the story the action shifts towards the school buildings on the outskirts of Simla. The entire sequence is played out in the dark with Bond successfully making use of fear, suspense and mystery to keep the readers' interest.
Key Theme
Fear of the supernatural
The predominant theme of the story is human beings' fear of the supernatural.
The author tells us how people avoided walking through the forest at night because of the eerie sounds made by the pine trees. It is obvious that people were afraid of encountering ghosts. Mr Oliver's concern for the schoolboy lasts only till he believes that the boy is a human being. He runs for his life once the boy reveals his ghostly, featureless face.
Literary Style
Captivating narrative style
A Face in the Dark is an excellent example of Ruskin Bond's captivating storytelling skills. Bond builds up the suspense not only by using a late-night setting, but also through his narration style.
We can easily visualise Mr Oliver walking through a dark forest with a flickering torch.
He carried a torch, and its gleam - the batteries were running down-moved fitfully down the narrow forest path.
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