Comparing 'Intimacy' and 'the Accidental'

2158 Words9 Pages
Apply the term ‘narrative voice’ and two other of the following terms to two of the set texts you have read for the module this semester in a comparative fashion. On the surface of the two novels that are being studied there are many different ways that the authors have developed the narrative voice, the structure and the ideologies that are inset in the novels. Thus, allowing the reader to experience the authors intended emotions, sensations or simply to evoke a response from the reader. Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi and The Accidental by Ali Smith both use these devices throughout their novels to their advantage in creating an atmosphere within the discourse of their novels. Although the authors use these narrative devices in completely different ways they are both effective. The authors reconnoitre characters and by giving their novels big kernels explore their possible reactions to these major changes. In The Accidental a character called Amber comes into the Smart family’s life and in turn impacts on each characters life and individually and forces them asses their previous actions. The structure that Smith uses causes each character to encounter an epiphany because we look at the characters in such close detail. In contrast Intimacy by Hanif Kureshi looks at in detail the stream of consciousness of the character Jay. Jay is a sex obsessed character and longs for his wife’s’ affection, that his wife is not interested in. There is only one main event in Intimacy, which I will explore later in the structure. The author’s perceptions of narrative voice are essential to the way that we view the characters. The narrative voice defines whether the reader should have an emotional response to the narrative voice or not. Also how the authors depict the voice or persona in these two novels is crucial in the unravelling of the discourse and how the story is told
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