What Methods Does Lee Use to Build Up a Sense of Danger in This Extract?

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In this passage the sense of danger is shown by the dialogue and description narrated by scout. When Atticus Finch picks up the gun she describes the scene in great detail, Lee sets the scene by creating an atmosphere that appears to become dangerous to the reader 'In a fog, Jem and I watched our Father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street'. Lee starts this sentence with 'in a fog' this is used to create suspense on Jem's narration on what is happening/about to happen to Tim Johnson. In this passage it shows how fearful the people of maycomb are about Tim johnson by the way Mr tate is pressuring Atticus to shoot Tim Johnson 'take him Mr Finch' this creates a sense of danger as it shows that Mr Tate sees killing Tim Johnson as an urgent thing before he disappears and possibly harms someone/something. The fear of Tim Johnson is also shown by Calpurnia 'sweet jesus help him' as if to beg jesus that Atticus doesnt get hurt. 'The mad dog', Tim Johnson could also symbolises Boo Radley because the mad dog is acting different to others and the consequences of that is that Atticus had to shoot him. That relates to Boo Radley as he is different to the people in the Maycomb county so they all treat him differently and discriminate him from the society. Lee creates a sense of danger through the dialogue in this passage. She shows Atticus gradually becoming more nervous through punctuation, for example "Don't just stand there, Heck!". By using an exclamation mark to suggest that Atticus is shouting, Lee shows to the reader that he is growing increasingly more anxious. This builds up a sense of danger, and creates tension for the reader, as we too become uneasy and fearful of what might happen next. This is also effective as it is one of the rare moments in the novel when Lee shows Atticus being nervous, which makes the passage more alarming as atticus is
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