The Blue Bead: Literary Style and Literary Devices(Figures of Speech)

The Blue Bead: Literary Style and Literary Devices(Figures of Speech)

Simple narrative

The Blue Bead is a simple narrative. Note how the author has used several Hindi words such as gharial, ghat, sari and junglis in an English story.

Imagery

Norah Burke adds richness to the story by using a lot of imagery.

We can easily visualise the menacing crocodile, the river and the forests around it, and the crocodile attack.

Look at these lines from the story:

The mugger crocodile, blackish brown above and yellowy white under, lay motionless...His mouth, running almost the whole length of his head, was closed and fixed in that evil bony smile...

Around him broad sparkling water travelled between cliffs and grass and forested hills. Up out of the darkling water heaved the great reptile, water slushing off him, his livid jaws yawning and all his teeth flashing as he slashed at her leg.

Figures of speech

Several figures of speech have been used in the story.

Simile

For instance, similes or direct comparisons have been used in these instances.

He was showing dawn-coloured silks that poured like cream.

From boulder to boulder she came leaping like a rock goat.

Up shot the water, twenty feet, and fell like a silver chain.

Alliteration

There are also several alliterative phrases like:

sun-whitened stepping stones

satin sewn with real silver thread

wonders of the world

Irony

The story's ending is an example of irony. As readers, we would expect Sibia to tell her mother about the crocodile attack and her own brave actions. Instead, she only tells her mother about finding a blue bead.