Sleep Rough tonight
How does your author convey the issues and their message within the novel?
Bad things only happen because it is the only way we can remember what good looks like. In Sleep Rough Tonight (2004), Ian Bone presents Alex Pimentino, a scrawny schoolboy striving for attention in the wrong places. Throughout the novel we discover that Alex is not only discovering his identity, but also his place in society, the audience sees Alex’s change in character to become a better person. Bone uses literary techniques to explore Alex’s need for revenge but only when he realises that revenge is futile does he grow as a character.
Before embarking on the journey of revenge, dig two graves, one for your enemy and one for yourself. In “Sleep Rough Tonight”, Alex is put through a series of tests to become a “man”, which are set by the Jockey, Alex’s supposed mentor, guardian angel and big brother.
Bone uses irony to show that the tests contribute nothing to Alex’s road to ‘manhood’. Alex’s tests include, a game of chicken, abusing a homeless man and hunting down a jacket that doesn’t even belong to him. These actions are not the makings of a man as they only show that Alex can be easily manipulated. After claiming a packet of chips from a businessman, Alex begins to see people as “opportunities” for the taking. Bone displays the change in Alex’s nature “There’s no way anyone would call him a wimp or a wuss. Not anymore. He was a hunter.” This belief that he is masculine is shown when he is sat on by a homeless thief who stole his jacket. He felt embarrassed and ashamed that he was not living up to his own expectations. He explodes in fury, trying to perpetuate his image of masculinity “He rolled and kicked with a rage that was like fire inside of him. It burned through him consuming all the dread and fear,” Bone compares this retaliation to fire, powerful but uncontrollable. Bone uses this metaphorical reference to show that revenge is not reliable and does not achieve
Bad things only happen because it is the only way we can remember what good looks like. In Sleep Rough Tonight (2004), Ian Bone presents Alex Pimentino, a scrawny schoolboy striving for attention in the wrong places. Throughout the novel we discover that Alex is not only discovering his identity, but also his place in society, the audience sees Alex’s change in character to become a better person. Bone uses literary techniques to explore Alex’s need for revenge but only when he realises that revenge is futile does he grow as a character.
Before embarking on the journey of revenge, dig two graves, one for your enemy and one for yourself. In “Sleep Rough Tonight”, Alex is put through a series of tests to become a “man”, which are set by the Jockey, Alex’s supposed mentor, guardian angel and big brother.
Bone uses irony to show that the tests contribute nothing to Alex’s road to ‘manhood’. Alex’s tests include, a game of chicken, abusing a homeless man and hunting down a jacket that doesn’t even belong to him. These actions are not the makings of a man as they only show that Alex can be easily manipulated. After claiming a packet of chips from a businessman, Alex begins to see people as “opportunities” for the taking. Bone displays the change in Alex’s nature “There’s no way anyone would call him a wimp or a wuss. Not anymore. He was a hunter.” This belief that he is masculine is shown when he is sat on by a homeless thief who stole his jacket. He felt embarrassed and ashamed that he was not living up to his own expectations. He explodes in fury, trying to perpetuate his image of masculinity “He rolled and kicked with a rage that was like fire inside of him. It burned through him consuming all the dread and fear,” Bone compares this retaliation to fire, powerful but uncontrollable. Bone uses this metaphorical reference to show that revenge is not reliable and does not achieve