C H A P T E R 6 – Shadows on the ice.

     Contrast is used to show Joe’s conflicting feelings and experiences in this chapter.

.-.-.-.-. TASK 1 .-.-.-.

Explain why contrast is used in these sections of the text. How does contrast assist the reader to understand Joe’s feelings and experiences in this chapter?

This chapter starts as Joe is being gradually lowered by a desperate Simon, clinging onto the hope that he will touchdown on some kind of surface. By this point, the cold has taken its toll on Joe, “Cold has long since won its battle. There was no feeling in my arms and legs.” He’s going into a state of delirium, whisked away by the comforting thought of death. “I laughed through the burning, and kept laughing hard, feeling tears rolling down my face.” Everything is tinged with death, and hes no longer holding onto the hope that Simon will save him, that everything will be okay. The sense of desperation has gone. In the first few lines at the start of the chapter Joe states ‘How long will you be, Simon? How long before you join me?’ He says this in a sort of carefree way, as if he is relieved by the thought of Simon joining him in his seemingly inevitable death. Later in the text we see that Joes opinion on this matter has changed. ‘It hadn’t occurred to me that he (Simon) might be dead..dead? I couldn’t conceive of him dead, not now, not after I’ve survived.’ Contrast is used here becau