Libra - Harvey Oswald
In the passage from the novel Libra, by Don DeLillo the reader is able to see the life of Harvey Oswald through the imagery and elements such as diction and point of view.
DeLillio paints a picture of Oswald’s life and the world he lives in. In the first paragraph (lines 18) Oswald seems to live a normal life where he is interested in things a seventh grade boy would be such as, “girls in tight skirts” (line 4). However; the reader is able to see the first glimpse of Oswald not being a normal seventh grader when DeLillo describes Oswald smiling in “his secret way” (line 7) in response to a group of girls gathered by benches.
Eventually, DeLillo leads into revealing the violent life that surrounded Oswald using 3rd person as the readers guide into Oswalds world. It is seen that not only is
Oswald a victim to violence where there are “disputes of family,” (line 14) and “rising welts” (line 17) on Oswalds leg he is also surrounded by it. “An italian man was murdered in the candy, shot five times, his brain dishing the walls near the comic book rack” (line 23). Through the narrator’s voice this murder seems to be treated as entertainment and something to watch, “kids trooped to the store from all around to see the traces of grayish spatter” (line 24). The reader can sense because the children see watching a crime seen as a form of entertainment that they may be
desensitized because this may be a common occurrence.
The tone the author uses gives insight into Oswalds search for power, which may have lead him to the assassination of JFK. It is excerpts from the passage such
“gripping heavy chains,” (line 44) and “how do we know the momentum is not insane,”
( line 48) that hints toward the power struggle that is present in Oswald’s life. This becomes evident in the last paragraph where the tone becomes more serious and the diction focuses more on words such as “power”, “insane”, and “edge”.
In conclusion, it is seen how Oswald appears to live
DeLillio paints a picture of Oswald’s life and the world he lives in. In the first paragraph (lines 18) Oswald seems to live a normal life where he is interested in things a seventh grade boy would be such as, “girls in tight skirts” (line 4). However; the reader is able to see the first glimpse of Oswald not being a normal seventh grader when DeLillo describes Oswald smiling in “his secret way” (line 7) in response to a group of girls gathered by benches.
Eventually, DeLillo leads into revealing the violent life that surrounded Oswald using 3rd person as the readers guide into Oswalds world. It is seen that not only is
Oswald a victim to violence where there are “disputes of family,” (line 14) and “rising welts” (line 17) on Oswalds leg he is also surrounded by it. “An italian man was murdered in the candy, shot five times, his brain dishing the walls near the comic book rack” (line 23). Through the narrator’s voice this murder seems to be treated as entertainment and something to watch, “kids trooped to the store from all around to see the traces of grayish spatter” (line 24). The reader can sense because the children see watching a crime seen as a form of entertainment that they may be
desensitized because this may be a common occurrence.
The tone the author uses gives insight into Oswalds search for power, which may have lead him to the assassination of JFK. It is excerpts from the passage such
“gripping heavy chains,” (line 44) and “how do we know the momentum is not insane,”
( line 48) that hints toward the power struggle that is present in Oswald’s life. This becomes evident in the last paragraph where the tone becomes more serious and the diction focuses more on words such as “power”, “insane”, and “edge”.
In conclusion, it is seen how Oswald appears to live