The overall tone of the text is dramatic with a gradual build-up of suspense and fear.

The text
starts o with the narrator describing the silence around her as ‘cacophonous’ which gives the
idea that the silence was likened to a physical weight on her. Throughout the text, the narrator
seems to be anxious which was conveyed with the phrases, ‘erratic breathing’, ‘my breaths were
laboured’ and ‘unease slithers up my spine’. The hospital room is described as having ‘stark white
walls’. The idea of the hospital being a very sterile environment is further emphasised by the lack
of adornment and the mention of Doctors and Nurses in ‘blue uniforms’ and ‘white coats’ along
with the ‘white walls’ and the ‘white tiled corridors’. In contrast, the narrator’s room where most of
the story is set has muted ‘subtle beige’ walls and there is a level of calm exuded which is
indicated by the room being ‘bathed in dappled sunlight’. The use of contrasting colours conveys
the chaos as well as the calm in the narrator’s mind. The bright whites over stimulate her mind
while the neutral white di erentiates the calm she feels. The blue mural on her ceiling is another
example of how the writer has inserted the use of colour to express the emotions of the scene.

In the rst paragraph of the text the narrator clues us into the fact that they have lost their
memory. Furthermore, the writer mentions their mind ‘swirling with empty memories’- a vague
indicator of the narrator’s memory loss and then in the next paragraph they mention knowing
‘some things’. This presents a paradox since what the narrator remembers are all the things she
doesn’t remember, such as her name, age, address and her family. The other protagonist of the
story is the narrator’s husband. From the very beginning, the narrator refers to him as ‘stranger’
which is a direct contradiction to him being her husband. This further strengthens the concept of
the narrator losing their memory. Later in the text, the narrator refers to her husband as ‘my
stranger’. The use of the possessive pronoun ‘my’ in accordance with the noun ‘stranger’
meaning an unknown person presents an oxymoron. One can assume the narrator had accepted
that the man was her husband, but she still saw him as a stranger who she knew nothing about.
However, the intended e ect was not observed since the addition seemed forced and unnatural.
There was also an overall absence of punctuation such as inverted commas in ‘Asked questions
about how I’m feeling… yes’. This hindered the overall structure of the text and made it into one,
continuous paragraph which can confuse the reader. The absence of an ellipsis at the end of the
sentence ‘I walk through and into oblivion’ does not deliver the desired e ect which is that the
narrator has died as indicated by the sentence, ‘a sliver of light growing closer’.

From the beginning itself the narrator shows distrust towards her husband as seen in the second
paragraph, ‘the doctors reassure me that he is my husband and that I will be safe.’ To which the
narrator replies mentally, ‘I am not sure I believe them’. As the story continues there are small
details that further add on to the fact that the husband might be the antagonist and play an active
role in the story. The narrator questions on one occasion whether she feels ‘terror clogging’ her
throat. Later in the scene, as the narrate enters the car, she questions whether her husband kept a
hand on her back to lead her in or push. There are instances where the narrator ‘ inches’ at the
husband’s touch and describes it as ‘innate’ and an ‘involuntary’ action which she attributes to
‘muscle memory’. She also describes his eyes in these moment as ‘glittery black’ and ‘angry
eyes’ which obviously shows that the narrator is subconsciously aware that she cannot trust this
man, but she is also not able to trust herself because of her amnesia. To further solidify the
husband’s ‘antagonist’ status, the writer includes phrases such as ‘dangerous kindness’ and
‘raging eyes’ and once even describes his silhouette as ‘menacing’ and his laugh as ‘manic and
insane’. There are also further references to the narrator being ‘stuck’ and her wanting to ‘hide’
and ‘never speak again’ which can be construed as her wanting to distance herself from her
husband but being unable to do so because of her amnesia and also fear of what the husband will
do if he found out. In addition, the narrator also compares darkness to something that provides
comfort using phrases such as, ‘escape into the cool darkness’ and ‘the sweet relief of the dark’.

The monologues where the narrator uses the metaphor of fear being a parasite or breaks down
popular sayings such as ‘ignorance is bliss’ deliver great impact on the emotions of the particular
scene. The former showcasing the absolute horror the narrator feels and the feeling of being
frozen by her fear. Of the fear ‘leaching’ away her ability to think and move and make decisions.
Further along the paragraph the appearance of a hammer and the numbness in the narrator’s
body and the narrators gaze snagging on a glass of water can be evidence to the fact that the
glass of water was poisoned and that the narrator was going to be attacked. Throughout the
whole scene, there are clauses such as, ‘strangles my brain’, ‘no air, and ‘head is bursting’ which
further strengthens the fact that the narrator is feeling closed in and that she feels su ocated by
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both fear and what can be suspected to be her husband sitting on her and smashing the hammer
into her head.

The text ends suddenly with a reference to the narrator dying, this was not as well developed as
the beginning of the text and could have been elaborated upon more. The characteristics of
suspense and drama were well kept up with throughout the text and though the ending was
rushed and abrupt, the requirements of the question were ful lled appropriately.

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