This novel is certainly not lacking in literary features. Roy shows herself to use an absolute plethora to describe and paint the picture of what she wants to convey to her readers. I will pick just a few examples in this chapter and leave you to re-read it and hopefully use my examples to help you find some more.
The first episode describes what Estha does as the "Welcome Home, Our Sophie Mol" play was occurring on the front verandah. He walks into where the Paradise Pickles are made and wanders through. Note how Roy uses repetition to paint a picture of the description of this factory as Estha views it:
Past glass casks of vinegar with corks.
Past shelves of pectin and preservatives.
Past trays of bitter gourd, with knives and coloured finger-guards.
The sequencing and repetition of these series of statements each beginning "Past" show how Estha walks past them one by one and also points to the appearance of the factory. As this section concludes, the literary features are used to describe Estha's inner turmoil after the abuse that he suffered from the Orangedrink Lemondrink Man. Note how Estha describes the jam:
The jam was still hot and on its sticky scarlet surface, thick pink froth was dying slowly. Little banana bubbles drowning deep in jam and nobody to help them.
Note the alliteration of "b" and "s" in these sentences, but also the description of the "banana bubbles" with no one to help them, clearly a reference to Estha's feelings. Consider too, how the "dying frothy shapes" Estha makes when stirring the jam are shapes of pain and anguish: "A crow with a crushed wing" and "A clenched chicken's claw."
Roy therefore uses literary features in this first section of Chapter 10 to give us an insight into how Estha is feeling after being abused. We are presented with images that clearly show his inner-distress and sadness.
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