Written Commentary Akash Jani Ringing Chamber This three paragraph prose from The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers appears to be within the center of the novel as Wimsey is a rooted character but, no summation is seen and is suffused with the misery and struggle of Wimsey as he treks to get to the top of the bell tower past the deafening clamor of the bells. The chief purpose of the prose is to show that the way to harmony and peace is an arduous journey that is only completed by not giving up. In the first paragraph of the prose, Sayers begins with an ironical statement “Wimsey did not want to hear anymore”(1) which is the exact opposite of what happens, as his mind is overloaded by the ringing of the bells. Here Wimsey has yet to climb into the tower to get “to the ringing chamber.”(2) The chamber was far from the silence that …show more content…
Wimsey was “pierced”(8) by clamor. He uses the alliterations of “crash”(9) and “clatter”(9) to show how between the chaos of noises one high pitched sound prevailed and to him was the simile “like a sword in the brain”(10) The alliteration of ‘blood”(10) and “body”(10) show Wimsey starting to break down with his head “swelling … to [its] bursting point”(11) Wimsey was “ready to fall”(12) down the ladder as an escape. Sayers’ uses diction to give reason for Wimsey’s will to break as he describes the noise as “brute pain, a grinding, bludgeoning, ran-dan, crazy, intolerable torment.”(13) Sayers uses metaphors to help us visualize Wimsey as “his ear-drums were cracking,”(14) and “his senses swam away.”(14-15) These metaphors show his ears giving way and him starting to become deaf. Wimsey was “screaming”(14) yet could not hear his own cries. This is rock bottom for Wimsey, where Sayers shows Wimsey’s flight or fight