English Assessment Thing Aye

Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump is a novel about Ricky Baker and his “uncle” Hec escaping into the bush to evade child protective services until Ricky is fifteen. In the book a large amount of diverse language features are used to create a vivid setting in the bush. Barry Crump’s use of colloquial language, jargon, personification, metaphor and first person narrative all help to create a vivid setting to convey the meaning of the text. By doing this crump makes us picture the dangers, experiences and characters in the bush.

Throughout the novel idioms or slang are used to inform us as to what type of character uncle Hec is and set a place and time for the novel. This is demonstrated when uncle Hec says “Lets have a brew-up…I could use something to eat”, This use of slang helps us to picture Hec as an almost stereotypical New Zealand bushman by associating his language with that of similar characters. A similar technique is used when uncle describes a character he believes is trustworthy saying “I know blokes like that…I don’t reckon he’d put us crook. I’m inclined to think he’s straight up” This use of slang allows us to understand Hec’s views on other people and also what he believes a good person should do, that they they should be “straight up” meaning honest. These uses of of idioms or slang allow us to understand what type of character hec is without a long explanation, this is done by using the readers previous knowledge of similar characters and getting them to draw parallels between them and the characters in the story. I think that Barry Crump uses slang and idioms very well throughout the novel to help create the image of Hec as an experienced bushman. Using both slang and idioms helps us to be engrossed in the world of Ricky and Hec by making the characters realistic and individual through there use of language. This may or may not be intentional as Barry Crump himself was an experienced bushman and it is likely also his natural writing style. While the use of slang and idioms throughout the novel works well for some, others particularly those outside of New Zealand or those not familiar with characters similar to Hec may find it hard to understand and may not get the references to character types.

In the novel metaphors are usually used to describe something that is significant to characters in the book. One such instance is when Ricky describes his failed attempts to make a good fire saying “there was none of that with Uncle Hec’s fires. They were positive, they were alive, they talked to you.” The metaphor of the fire as a living breathing person allows the reader to understand how energetic and lifelike Ricky find’s Hec’s fires. Metaphors are used similarly when Ricky describes a near death experience with a flash flood saying the water was “tearing past us like a giant train through the bush and fading off down the valley.” likening the water to a train helps the reader understand how truly powerful and fast the flood was. The use of metaphors in this way helps to emphasise the importance of certain moments or objects in the novel by making them seem more vivid or graphic to the reader, allowing us to easily engross ourselves in the novel. While these techniques are effective in the novel they would work much better if used more often, the use of metaphors is quiet sporadic throughout the novel and can seem jarring at times.

Throughout the majority of wild pork and watercress the story is told from Ricky’s point of view meaning the book is written in first person narrative. This allows the reader to connect with Ricky’s experience in the bush. This happens when Ricky describes how he feels after his second day hiking in the bush saying “i was glad we didn’t have to walk far that day. I had some blisters on my feet i wasn’t mentioning to uncle Hec and it hurt like anything to walk.” Using first person rather than third person narrative to describe this helps understand how Ricky felt by telling us his emotions and thoughts. First person narrative is also effectively used when Ricky describes his initial relationship with uncle Hec. “Uncle Hec wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with joy about me being here at first, so i wasn’t exactly overwhelmed with joy about him either.” Using first person narrative to describe this allows us to understand what Ricky thinks about Hec and his emotions towards him which would not be possible if the novel was told from a different point of view. Throughout the novel first person narrative is used like this to allow the reader to experience the bush as if they were in Ricky’s place therefore allowing us to understand how he feels about the situations he is put in. I think that Barry Crump uses first person narrative effectively to help the reader immerse themselves in the setting of the book.

In conclusion in the novel Wild Pork and Watercress Barry Crump uses a variety of slang, idioms metaphor and first person narrative to create a vivid setting. This is done with mixed results with some techniques such as metaphor not being used as well as they could be. However overall Barry Crump manages to create a compelling narrative about Ricky and Hec surviving in the setting of the bush.