Robert Collier Analysis

The extract is from the beginning of the story which relates to the characterisation and setting. This enables the audience to have an insight towards the characters and take a grasp as to what they may be like. The setting is presented when they describe the “coil through the trunks and branches of the thickening forest”. The lexemes “thickening forest” displays that the story is set in a dense wood which emphasises the journey into the unknown, where once you enter you can never return. The lexis “forest” connotes deep mystery due to how concealing it is. The forest also links to Fairy tales as many characters usually find themselves having to fight danger in the forest such as “The little red riding hood”. A forest also relates to a place
Although looking at Grimes fairytale Hansel and Gretel similarities can be perceived. This is shown in the quote “His right hand trails behind him, letting a crumb fall. His face is half-turned towards his hand, but his eyes remain watchfully fixed on the old man’s feet ahead.” The fact that the boy has his right hand trailing behind him, letting a crumb fall shows some sense of discreetness as his hand is behind him which shows that he may not want the old man to notice that he is dropping the crumbs. This creates the sense of the unknown and that they may actually not be related to the old man in any way. However, this may be uncertain as we are never exposed to weather the old man is a stranger or related to the children. This is because he is continuously titled “the old man” which creates a suspicion as to who he is. Although Coover characterises the old man through the physical aspects our perception as to whom he is, is never defined. However, the fact that the boy is dropping crumbs shows that he may be a leaving a trail for someone to follow as they may be in trouble or he may want to keep a track so they can return to their destination. This shows that Coover’s characterisation of the old man is not made
However Coover eliminated the beginning and ending of the story. Correspondingly, he finished the story mainly focusing on the physical attributes of the characters and the forest which is shown within the beginning of the story. He describes each and every character is depth. The boy is described as “The boy’s hand and wrist, thrusting from the outgrown jacket (the faded red cuff is not a cuff at all, but the torn limits merely, the ragged edge of the soft worn sleeve).” His clothing is described as “outgrown, torn and ragged” which creates this theme of wealth as it shows that they are from a poor background which shows that as a family unit they may be unstable as both boy and girl are described as “barefoot” which means that they are not in a state to buy shoes. This shows that if the family unit was good and money was not an issue the children would not be in this state. This shows that Coover uses their physical attributes to symbolise their