By Benjamin Trontelj
Dear Mrs River,
My chosen extract is part of the book: “Four Corners”.
Here, brave and daring explorers embark on an epic journey. They tramp through thick and unexplored ancient jungles in Papua New Guinea which are full of "vines" and “100 feet” tall trees. In this extract, the explorers reach a village where they meet the village chief - “The witch doctor”.
The path which they take to the village is "faint" and "muddy". “Faint” suggests that a small number of people use that path. The track is "muddy" so this implies that there is a wet climate.
Since the trees are “towering”, the jungle is more dark and the people look insignificant in it.
The personification, "vines creeping from limb to limb", expresses how thick the forest is - the vines are tangled all over the place. The vines seem alive so the reader feels a tingle of fear.
The simile, "hanging from boughs like gigantic tentacles", shows how the vines have twisted their way through the jungle. The atmosphere is unpleasant.
The narrator, Kira, says that the "departing sun is already warming the sky...". "Departing" suggests that the sun is setting and that the explorers are enjoying the last minutes of the warmth and comfort of the day. When Kira says that "god" was "preparing the jungle for rest" she implies that it’s turning nighttime (sleeptime). "
Joseph calls out. Some kids ... freeze, then run off in terror." They froze because they were so startled by the explorers’ peculiar looks (white skin, different clothing, strange language, etc). Finally, the kids ran off, bemused and scared, to warn the others and protect themselves.
The village chief, who came to greet the explorers, wears a "breechcloth" and "pandanus leaves". This implies that the tribes in that tradition look and behave differently from modern people. The pandanus leaves “around his waist” are maybe used as a belt.
“Cassowary claws”, “large hoop earrings” and “a band of bright red and yellow beads” describe the chief’s fascinating look.
Kira could have just said "claws" instead of "cassowary claws". The fact that she uses the name of a native bird implies that she knows a lot about Papua New Guinea.
The chief "looks at them sternly". "Sternly" implies that the chief is very serious about the arrival of the strangers. His responsibility is to take care of the village. He doesn't know these strange people.
When “a man bursts forth with spear held aloft” Kira feels petrified. This builds tension in the reader.
Kira describes what the man looks like - he wears “paint” and “leaves” to make himself look more fierce and frightening.
Kira is “running for her life … the chief's spear only inches from Kira's face". This was a massive twist. At first it seemed that the tribe wanted to kill them but all this was just for a show - they wanted the explorers to buy their “spears”, “arrows”, etc. Kira says that this is “PNG-style”, which is their type of selling technique.
Kira doesn’t like this: "The man smiles. Kira tries to smile back". “Tries to smile” shows how she just forced a fake smile to be polite.
Kira says “Thirty years ago, I may have actually been speared”. This implies how the natives have changed - “thirty years ago”, they would really kill you. Now they just joke.
The man "shows the spear and insists that Kira runs her fingers..." We know he is showing off the spear's high-quality. Jens, a member of the team, "comes over and thus begins a heated discussion about whether the spear is for sale... spears, bows and arrows laid out for our kina. Jens pulls off his T-shirt and exchanges it for several arrows" This shows how they buy things - they exchange things and use kina (their money).
"Children hide behind the posts of the stilt huts, watching Kira silently". This suggests that the children are still uncomfortable around the strangers and are observing them.
"An old woman... ...hands Kira a few of the mourning necklaces she's made. Kira thinks the woman is trying to sell them so she reaches for some kina". However, the woman "shakes her head..." and “pats Kira’s hand”. Kira is "beginning to understand" that one of the woman’s loved ones died so she is giving people her “mourning necklaces.”
Since the old woman refused Kira’s money, we know that she, unlike the man selling spears, is giving the necklaces for free because she feels that’s the right thing to do. She doesn’t want to earn money from this sad event.
The overall effect of this kind act and the woman patting Kira’s hand makes Kira feel more relaxed because she knows she is amongst some good people.
My first impression of the natives was that they were bad people since a man started chasing the team with a spear. However, when the man “smiles” and when he doesn’t kill Kira and the team, I realized that they aren’t so bad at all - the man was just making a show to advertise their tools. When I reached the end of the extract, the old woman’s actions made me see that in some ways the natives are similar to us - we can all share, be kind and have friends. She and Kira also showed me that we don’t always need words to understand each other.
Yours Sincerely,
Benjamin Trontelj