Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Part 4

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In part four of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ the story is told using a variety of narrative techniques which are to be explained. Firstly there is the use of voices in part four. The wedding guest starts off part four by talking to the Mariner but, however, the Wedding Guest makes him seem inhuman and as though the Mariner is made up from the things from the sea in the story he is telling; ‘thou art long, and lank, and brown, as is the ribbed sea-sand’. This gives the Mariner a supernatural image. In addition to this the Wedding Guest refers back to the Mariner’s glittering eye which is suggestively the hypnotic factor about the Mariner which is keeping the Wedding Guest engaged in the Mariner’s story and, furthermore adds to the image of the Mariner being supernatural. We then return to the Mariner’s voice. Throughout part four we are receiving the Mariner’s story of how he found his epiphany. The Mariner tells us through the narrative how he becomes less self-focused and how he reconnects with God. The Mariner’s voice is used to tell the story of how he violated universal harmony, but, his epiphany allows him to reconnect with God and much he should actually appreciate the creatures God creates. Overall the voices used by both the Mariner and the Wedding Guest are used in connection with the images created. Imagery is very important in part four. The image of the Mariner being somewhat supernatural remains throughout as even when he is suffering deeply; the Mariner’s ‘Glittering eye’ still remains. There is much reference to images of the Mariner’s eyes as he ‘kept them close, and the balls like pules beat;’ which is an image that everything is an assault to the Mariner’s eyes. This intern runs alongside the idea that the eyes of the dead men live with him. The pain the Mariner experiences in his eyes could suggestively be saying that this is the guilt the

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