How Does Andres Create Tension In 'Talking In Whispers'?

In the novel 'Talking In Whispers' by James Watson, it is about a teenager trying to get his own life back in a world where people are deceiving and unfair. It is an exciting and uncompromising political thriller, that voices out things about certain parts of the world dealing with human rights in an everyday crisis. In this analysis, I have analyzed several fractured narratives in the novel. Andres is the main character in the novel - and is someone that the writer wants to sympathize. Therefore, the writer used a fractured narrative so that he could create tension and sympathy in his novel.

The writer had made a huge contrast - from a stadium of triumph and glory to people being shot. In the scene when introducing the Silver Lion,
the writer wrote, ‘Freedom will be reborn.’ Whereas in the scene where Horacio was being shot, the writer wrote, ‘They were searching for him, rummaging through the brambles, kicking spaces, scraping boots against rocks… bouncing towards the deep roar of the river.’ This suggests that the writer wanted to show how everyone in the stadium were very happy, then to change it to something so dreadful. This way, it shows how Andres almost got killed whilst everyone else were having such a good time – which creates tension and sympathy in this section of the book. The writer had chosen to use the phrase ‘ They were searching for him, kicking spaces…’ because he wanted to show how aggressive and tough the CNI were, to make Andres so terrified of them. The writer has also used figurative language which was ‘bouncing towards the deep roar of the river.’ The writer uses this technique to get the reader thinking, and also to able to feel like they are in the scene themselves. Overall, the writer switches from one scene to the other because he wanted to create a lot of tension and sympathy, and consequently, the reader will want to keep on reading to find out what happens next. The writer used figurative language and many other good techniques because he was trying to get the reader thinking, and to be able to visualize the scene itself.

More into the story, the president was portrayed as a corrupt person when he manipulated the truth which then created a sense of anger in the readers against the president and The Mercury (Newspaper) and sympathy for Andres.
For example, Isa says 'Do you expect the lap-dog of the generals to publish the truth?'
This conveys that the president wanted to hide the truth, he tried to weaken the strength of the opposite party by killing the leader and eliminating the people who supported the opposing party so that nobody can try to hold more protests and create a strong election party's again.
the president manipulated the truth through newspaper about the death of Juan Larreta (Andres's father) which then made Andres furious as he was the one who saw the truth. This gives a feeling of anger and sympathy as the reader visualizes himself in Andres's position. This make the reader think - how would it feel like to lose someone you are really close to, and read lies about the eye witnessed truth that his father was beaten, kicked and arrested by the CNI?
This portrays that the generals were corrupt, powerful and influential to hide the truth that they were the ones who were responsible for the death of two singers and captivity of one singer. Overall, the writer has used some dramatic irony and created tension to keep the readers interested, therefore it brings up a lot of suspense, and also helps the readers visualize how the life used to be in Chile many years ago, when Augusto Pinochet used to rule Chile. The writer also emphasizes on how corrupt, crooked and taint the dictators and government
was.

Andres’ flashback was nightmare to him, something that he dreaded to think about. The writer wrote, ‘He saw the pistol, aimed from a moving car. He saw her fall. He saw his mother fall and he saw the car speed away.’ This conveys that Andres had witnessed his mother's death at a very young age. The writer had chosen to use the phrase 'He saw the car speed away' because he wanted to make the reader feel as if Andres was hopeless, sad and very frustrated, when the car had sped away right when his mother had been shot. The writer did this because he wanted to create tension and make the reader feel sympathetic for Andres, and he also wanted to the reader to visualize how the Chileans had a tough time, and that there was nothing they could do about it. In the evidence above, the writer had chosen to make quick, short and intense sentences, like 'He saw her fall'. This shows that the writer wanted to create a lot of suspense, as it was a very horrifying moment - the writer wanted to make the moment go by very fast. This shows that the writer wanted to make the reader feel connected and involved in the book, as they are sympathetic. The tension rises as the writer tries to include as much information as possible without giving too much away, and this is what makes the novel interesting and addictive.

In conclusion, I think that the writer wanted to create tension and sympathy by writing a fractured narrative about this scene because he wanted the reader to feel somehow connected, involved and interested in the main character and book itself. He had used many good techniques, such as figurative language, similes, and so on. He wanted the reader to understand how Andres must have felt about his parent’s death and how the Chileans had a tough time, so one of the reasons was also that the writer wanted to give some background information - not just the main character, but the other characters in the novel, to give the reader a clear understanding about everything that happens in the novel.