Analysis Of She Handed Over By Hannah Boyle

“She handed over Nathaniel as if he was a piece of meat or a sack of potatoes, no regrets” (90). Boyle makes use of several linguistic techniques and stylistic choices to demonstrate how, to Wendy, the process of carrying Nate’s child was strictly business and, despite being her flesh and blood, she did not view Nathaniel or Nate with additional compassion and had no issue in removing them from her life. Boyle’s stylistic choice to employ the emotionless phrasal verb “handed over” to describe the way Wendy gives Nathaniel to Nate instead of a verb with a warmer, positive connotation conveys a connection Wendy feels between her and her child to nothing more than that of relinquishing property. Boyle’s use of the bizarre analogies “a piece of