Susan Hill, author of I’m the King of the Castle, uses a wide range of literary devices throughout the coming-of-age book. Aiding in the establishment of a central theme where lack of love leads to a life of sorrow due to neglection from their “loved ones”. She establishes this with important literary devices that help portray the essential, subliminal messages. Without these a crow would be just a crow, a stream would be just a stream, a phrase would be just that, and the characters would flatten from their unique and well-thought out personalities. Hill uses symbolism, foreshadowing, and imagery to convey a realistic depiction of the harsh reality of life and its endless struggles, losses, and setbacks.
Throughout the novel symbolism is used heavily by Hill constantly to show the characters’ true selves. In the case of Charles Kingshaw, Susan Hill uses this literary device to show his fears and prominent isolation. One of the best examples can be seen when Kingshaw goes out into the cornfield and gets attacked by a crow. “He thought that the corn might be some kind of crow’s food store, in which he was
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Hill used symbolism to embody and further explain, especially, Kingshaw’s fears. She also used the literary device of foreshadowing to create suspense of the unforetold events that were to occur, leaving all readers captivated by her suspicious words. Last, but not least, imagery was used by Hill to contrast the mood and tone of each environment and scene in relation to the surroundings of the characters. Susan undoubtedly achieved, with all of these aforementioned literary devices, the captivation and insight she hoped to portray to all her analytical readers. She depicted a world where love, the lack there of, destroys everything in its path, and how much it will impact and hurt all those around