Language

Style of language

The language in this excerpt from “The River Underground” by Richard Tromans is fairly simple, but it includes a few Gambian words such as “tubab” or “ganja” which give the character and the text more authenticity. 

The story combines narrative and descriptive passages with dialogue creating a dynamic narrative. Free indirect speech is also used, giving readers some insight into the main character’s thoughts: “And the people in London - who were these people?” (p. 4, l. 38). Both dialogue and free indirect speech have the effect of helping readers to relate to the characters. 

Positive words are meant to show the character’s initial naivety regarding life in England: “lucky” (p. 3, l. 7), “free money” (p. 4, l. 5), “fascinated by the prices” (p. 4, l. 15) etc. The story also includes various descriptive passages with many words that create negative images such as: “mad heat” (p. 5, l. 15), “cold coun...