Lady of the Flies

Mary Anne Bell, a dynamic character, is a clear example of how the war changes people. She went through a complete change from the beginning of the chapter to the end; Mary Anne's metamorphosis is depicted by the diction used in Rat Kiley's story.

She starts out in innocence; "an attractive girl," "bubbly personality," "happy smile" with a "good quick mind" (page 91). Eddie Diamond supposedly said, "I promise you, this girl will most definitely learn," foreshadowing the change she's about to go through. It was her intuitive nature that lead her to the complete opposite end of the spectrum towards the end: "her face took on a sudden new composure" (page 93), "the bubbliness was gone [as was] the nervous giggling" (page 95), "she carried an M-16 automatic assault rifle" (page 98). Her eyes were no longer intelligent and blue, but had "a haunted look" to them, "a bright glowing jungle green." She's portrayed as wild, especially when we are told she had a string of human tongues around her throat" (page 105). This whole description reminds me of the weird, inhumane ways humans act in the strangest, costliest situations like in The Lord of the Flies. The boys in that story turned crazy and against each other; Mary Anne Bell is like the Lady of the Flies!

Smooth Sailing

Chapter 29 is full of words indicating the resolution of the novel. It starts off, "In the morning it was all over. The fiesta was finished." Everything has died down after the bullfights. The waiters aren't in a hurry, Jake sits "comfortably" in the wicker chairs, and we are reminded yet again that the "fiesta was over." It's as if the energy and excitement that came about with the fiesta has been drained out of the city and replaced with a calm atmosphere. People are "walking" not hurrying. When Jake got out of the cab by the hotel he "rubbed the rod-case through the dust [on the car]. It seemed the last thing that connected [him] with Spain and the fiesta" (pg 236). This seems fitting; it's like the expression goes- leaving it in the dust.

Jake seems at ease when he drinks a bottle of wine for company and swims in the sea all day. One never would know the craziness of the fiesta, the injuries of the war, or the burdens on his heart the way Jake calmly strolls around. He casually drinks it away.

And How!

Just like the fashion of a decade, phrases develop and change. The diction in The Sun Also Rises reveals the time period's dialect and the slang words used at the time. On page 107, Bill reports that he "has some darbs." Darbs can be referred to as money or even clothing, though in this case it seems as if Bill is referring to 'darb' as a type of person, possibly a Jewish man. Also throughout the story, the word 'tight' is used to described those who have had too much to drink. Bill says Jake and himself will "get tight now at lunch on the wine of the country" on page 108, and he goes on to add that they will then take a "swell bus ride." When people use the word 'tight' today it means 'cool' or 'awesome'. The word 'swell' equates with 'fantastic' or 'wonderful.' The language of the 20's was more proper than that of today, but the slang terms exist no matter the decade or area of the country.