Ransom: Style 1 key example

Key Examples in Ransom

Part 5
Explanation and Analysis:

Malouf writes Ransom in a lyrical and poetic style. Long, winding sentences in passages of description contribute to this sense of lyricism; descriptions are also rich with figurative language. This use of intricate sentences and figurative language in description deepen the imagery throughout the novel, such as in Somax's thoughts about the stories he will tell of Hermes in Chapter 5:

The meeting in the tamarisk grove with the impudent fellow who was, in fact, the god Hermes in the guise of an Achaean warrior: a dandified youth with golden tresses, and a scent–it was this that had given him away—like gillyflowers.