The Extraordinary Trapeze Artist

970 Words4 Pages
The Extraordinary Trapeze Artist - Short Story "The Leap” by ‘Louise Erdrich In the short story “The Leap” the author ‘Louise Erdrich’ intelligently uses the technique of foreshadowing and suspense to enhance the element of setting, flashback to develop characterization and employs parallelism to develop the theme. The audience waits in astonishment to see the amazing trapeze act that they have read in numerous fliers and heard about from their friends and neighbours. The setting is developed through the technique of foreshadowing and suspense. The author uses many instances in the story to give the readers a clue or hint to what is about to happen in the coming few paragraphs. An example of foreshadowing in the story is at the point when the Trapeze Act is about to begin the writer adds words like “never again to meet” (Erdrich 191). This tells us that something unfortunate is about to happen. The author adds more suspense to the setting of the trapeze act by saying: “As the clouds gathered outside, unnoticed, the ring master cracked his whip, shouted, his introduction, and pointed to the ceiling of the tent, where the Flying Avalons were perched” (Erdrich 191). The author successfully builds up suspense throughout the story until the true nature of the events she suggests are revealed. This can be seen when the writer talks about what happens “when extremes of temperature collide, winds being generated instantaneously behind a hell and crash upon without warning.” (Erdrich 191) The characterisation of “The Leap” is developed through the technique of flashback. One day while the author, Anna Avalon’s daughter was sewing in the room of the rebuilt house, to which she returns after complications in her recent relationship. She hears a crackle from the stove downstairs which brings back the past memories of her talented mother. Even though her
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