Rhetoric Study

“The dog was slow enough so that Garp could spin behind him; he pulled the dog’s forepaws from under him and dropped his own weight, from his chest, on the dog’s back. Bonkers buckled forward, he slid into the ground nose first—his hind legs still clawing. Garp now controlled the crumpled forepaws but the great dog’s heavy head was held down only by the weight of Garp’s chest. A terrifying snarling developed as Garp bore down on the animal’s spine and drove his chin into the dog’s dense neck. In the scuffle, an ear appeared—in Garp’s mouth—and Garp bit it. He bit as hard as he could, and Bonkers howled. He bit Bonker’s ear in memory of his own missing flesh, he bit him for the four years he’d spent at Steering—and for his mother’s eighteen years.” Pg. 113

When browsing through some of the passages I had marked while reading, I stumbled across this one and knew I had to pick it for my Rhetoric Study post. Not only does this terrifically demonstrate the author’s style, this excerpt is among my favorite from the book so far.

One of the most notable characteristics is the use of short, choppy sentences to convey action. The frequent pauses allow the reader to interpret the situation in a step-by-step manner that provides a better comprehension of the event described in the text. The use of hyphens also contributes to this, as demonstrated when Garp bites off the dog’s ear.

Along with the method used to convey the action, is the use of diction, comprised of fairly simple vocabulary, but presented in a way that gives the perfect description of what is happening. Bonker’s growl is characterized as a “terrifying snarling”, an explanation that provides great appeal to the senses.The entire situation slowly builds and climaxes to the moment that is sure to please all the readers of the novel, and that moment is Garp’s Revenge. For those who don’t know, the dog Bonker’s mauled Garp as a child and bit off a piece of his ear. As the situation becomes more and more intense, as mentioned earlier, the author builds suspense by creating extremely short sentences, separated by hyphens to quickly spurt out short and simple announcements of what is happening.

“In the scuffle, an ear appeared—in Garp’s mouth—and Garp bit it.”

I hate to sound cruel, but that dog deserved every bit of what Garp did to him. I personally view this moment as the highpoint of Garp’s childhood; everything he did as a kid was incorporated in this situation. From the revenge sought after the dog hated by both Garp and Jenny, to the wrestling moves Garp learned while at school, this passage was more than just about Garp getting back at the dog, it was about his childhood and growing up enough to tackle the obstacles that once tackled him…literally.