Daniel Yurchenko Ms Farr Period 3 3/21/2023 In the short story “The Key” by Nnedi Okorafor, the author uses literary terms to forward the message of the theme of desperation. Fwadausi Bello Loses the key to her house while knowing that her uncle is highly abusive and unpredictable. While she searches for her key, the author uses such literary terms, Personification, Simile, and Foreshadowing to describe Fwadausi’s fear and desperation. Personification is used when the author describes Fwadausi’s fear as the smoke was engulfing and choking her. The author wrote, “Standing there next to the road, just outside her school cars rushing by enveloping her with dust, Fwadausi’s shoulders curled in as fear and anxiety engulfed and choked her like smoke” (Okorafor Paragraph 14) This description highly explains the intensity of the situation and Fwadausi’s fear and the feeling of suffocation that she was going through. The author also uses simile’s to describe Fwadausi’s legs as “long thin legs” (Okorafor Paragraph 15) to describe Fwadausi’s vulnerability. The author also writes “She turned and ran home, taking long strides with her long thin legs” (Okorafor Paragraph 15). Describing Fwadausi’s Legs as long and thin the author states her lack of strength and vulnerability. …show more content…
When Fwadausi realizes the key was lost, she knows that her uncle will be home soon and that she will be in trouble if she doesn't find it. As she runs home to get the kerosene lamp, the author writes, “Fwadausi sighed with relief when she saw the kerosine lamp was exactly where she left it near the back door beside a bucket of water and it was still full of kerosene” (Okorafor Paragraph 16). This foreshadows the story by stating the kerosene lamp will be a part later in the story, when she breaks into her own house to retrieve the spare