Live To Tell By Lisa Gardner: A Literary Analysis

Authors use literary devices to help the reader understand the message or theme. Literary devices are a key hint as to what the author is trying to tell the reader instead of just flat out stating the lesson or message. Throughout "Live to Tell", "Refresh, Refresh", and "Man From the South" the author 's use suspense to show the emotions the characters are feeling. There is a lot of emotion portrayed throughout "Live to Tell" by Lisa Gardner. The author uses suspense to show that Evans mom Victoria is fearful of what he would do if she did something to make him agitated. Victoria thinks about every possible thing that could push Evan the wrong way. "He hasn 't gone over the edge yet. Remember, he hasn 't gone over the edge. Not yet."

Fear is the worst feeling to have, but fear also creates suspense because some people are not themselves when they are afraid. In the story "Refresh,Refresh" by Benjamin Percy two boys turn into a new person when their fathers leave for the army. The boys became very violent someone completely different from who they were before their dad left for the army, "before he could even speak, I brought my fist to his diaphragm, knocking the breath from, his body." (5). The boys in "Refresh, Refresh" were so afraid of what Dave was about to say that they acted out of fear and started to beat Dave up. The boys turned into monsters because they were so afraid of the news Dave had because he was the one who told the family that their loved one was killed in combat. The boys still were so afraid of what Dave wanted to tell them that they continued to beat him up until, "He closed his mouth and tried to crawl away" (5). Another way to use suspense is to to show how someone is so angry and afraid that they turn into some they are not and get very violent. At this part of the story Dave was trying to come tell him that his father had passed away in combat, but he was too afraid to hear him say the words that he didn 't let him and just beat Dave up. While reading the suspense of how badly the boys wanted to beat Dave up was a release of anger and fear, which is terrifying in the position of

The suspense created in "Man From the South" is nothing short of terrifying. The little man Carlos was beyond serious when he bet the boy that his lighter couldn 't go 10 straight times without a single one missed. They bet the little man 's car for the boys left pinky finger. Carlos put nails in the table to tie the boy 's hand down. One of the most terrifying parts of the story was when the little man was getting the table ready, "Now place de left hand between dese two nails. De nails are only so I can tie your hand in place. All right, good" (8). As the little man tells the boy to put his hand in between the nails it creates a terrifying feeling that this man might chop off the boy 's finger all because of little bet. While reading the story the reader can see just how much suspense was in the room as they waited in between each time the boy lit his lighter. Everyone in the room was afraid to say anything to stop them, but the minute the door flies open everything stops. ""Eight!" I said and as I said it the door opened. We all turned and we saw a woman standing in the doorway, a small, black haired women, rather old, who stood there for about two seconds then rushed forward shouting" (9). Suspense was created because the boy was so close to winning the bet when the lady came into the room and no one, had no idea who was coming in the door and why she was shouting. It was confusing for everyone as to why she even came in the room. The use of suspense had an impact on