In CivilWarland in Bad Decline, one element of writing craft that helps create the story is motif. One motif that is present in the story is the violence that corrupts the CivilWarland park. At the beginning, the narrator explains how there are gangs that have been abusing their park for quite some time. He says how “Last month they wounded three visitors and killed a dray horse.”
Fast forward to the present and the narrator now hears gunshots around him as he is working on some paperwork. He notices that one of his colleagues along with some other men are tied to a cannon, and continues to describe how “The gang guys took Quinn’s pants and put some tiny notches in his penis with their knives.”
Not even halfway through the story, there are already two violent actions that have been commented by the narrator. Saunders does an excellent job of not only giving exposition for the story, but revolving that exposition to the violent events that change the entire outlook on the piece, which is generally required to create a solid motif.
Throughout the entire story, there is a sense that the park will somehow be torn down in the near future. There is a feeling of struggle within the workplace and it
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Upon hearing the news, his boss also tells him the park is no more, which soon leads to another killing spree from Sam, with the narrator being his last target. As the narrator’s mistake ridden life flashes before his eyes, Sam drives a knife through his heart and ends the entire park community as we know it. Again, Saunders adds a barrage of violent acts to the story that help contribute to creating the recurring element aspect of a motif. He adds a considerable amount of violence in the story that as a whole create a motif due to the recurring acts of violence, and how it relates to a bigger overall theme of life and