I Am the Cheese

“I Am the Cheese” is a thrilling but mysterious novel written by Robert Cormier about a boy finding his identity and discovering the truths about his past while battling a corrupt power. The narrative conventions and language techniques in “I Am the Cheese” are used to demonstrate the themes of deceit, identity, individuals against corrupt power and many other themes. The author uses juxtaposition, descriptive language and narrative structure to influence the reader’s response.

Juxtaposition is used in the novel to emphasise and highlight contrasts. The innocence of Adam and his family are juxtaposed with the evil intentions and corruption of Grey and the government. Adam’s family is innocent because they have done nothing wrong at all and don't deserve what they have received. They lived peaceful lives until Adam’s father discovered something he wasn't supposed to know. Grey and his team of men are evil and exact opposite of the Farmer family because they seem protective but are in fact evil and the antagonists of the novel. Juxtaposition is also used to show the differences between reality and fantasy. Adam’s illusion of a bike journey was juxtaposed with the very real interview with Brint. The bike journey was discovered as fake later in the novel, with clues along the way, while the interview was reality all along. Juxtaposition is used to display the themes of power and corruption with innocence and reality with fantasy by contrasting their differences.

Descriptive language is important in the novel to build on the characters and show their actions and feelings in detail. “I stand in the upright coffin and my body oozes with sweat and my heart pounds and this terrible feeling of suffocation threatens me and I wonder if the doors will ever open.” Descriptive language is used to convey to the reader how much Adam fears enclosed spaces. “Into them. Into his father, his mother, himself. The car smashing. A flash of steel, sun glinting, and he felt himself, crazily, moving through the air, no feeling, no pain, no sense of flight, but actually in the air, not flying but moving as if in slow motion, everything slowed down, tumbling now and twisting and in the tumbling and twisting he saw his mother die.” Descriptive language also sets the scene of the car crashing into Adam’s family in lots of detail. Using descriptive language explains to the reader of the novel’s themes in more detail and gives better understanding by creating more vivid visual images.

The changing of narrative structures is one of the most vital techniques in the novel because it maintains suspense throughout the entire story. The novel is divided into 3 different styles. A 1st person account of Adam’s bike ride, interview sessions between Adam and Brint and Adam’s recollections of his past. Filtering clues through each of the 3 different narrative styles keeps the suspense because it makes the reader think more about events in the story and wanting more clues. An example of this is the German Shepherd that Adam encounters while riding also happens to stay at the hospital. The 3 styles are actually all interlinked as the reader finds out in the end, but is only hinted this slowly through the novel. It gives the reader an idea of what could happen next and excited for the climax to keep readers reading.

Juxtaposition, descriptive language and narrative structure were 3 different narrative conventions and language techniques used in “I Am the Cheese” to influence the readers response. Juxtaposition emphasised contrasts, descriptive language is used to build on the characters and other events and narrative structure maintained the suspense throughout the whole novel.