The Theme Of Click Clack The Rattle Bag By Nil Gaiman

Click-Clack The Rattle Bag is a short story by Niel Gaiman. The story starts with the boyfriend sitting at the kitchen table reading a magazine, a little boy walks in and says that it’s time for bed. He then asks the boyfriend to take him to bed, because it’s too dark for him to go on his own. The boyfriend agrees and takes him to bed. On the way the boy asks him to tell him a bedtime story, he then goes on to tell how the boyfriend should know about a type of monster, called the “Click-Clack Rattle Bag”. He tells the boyfriend how they look, how they kill and what's left behind, only a skin sack of bones. It makes for a lot of suspense, including when the story concludes with them both reaching the bedroom while hearing a soft rattle, it then ends at a cliffhanger. The way that the story shifts from the boy to the boyfriend is really smooth and doesn’t seem forced.

According to the text, “Before you take me up to bed, will you tell me a story? Do you actually need me to take you up to bed? I asked the boy” (Gaiman 1-2). The way the perspective of the story switches is seamless. The author builds suspense by letting the reader imagine the monster in any way they want. The story is told with first person omniscient, it lets the reader feel like they’re in the story; like they’re being told the story. The way the story is being told by a little kid also adds to the suspense. The way the boy describes the monster is so mundane and easy, it makes it unsettling. The boyfriend was scared but can’t show that to the boy because he’s afraid that the boy will think he’s