Michael Morpurgo's World in 'Private Peaceful

Have you ever seemed like a character in the book that you are checking out? Some authors compose in such a manner in which makes the reader feel as if she or he were really in the book. Michael Morpurgo is one of those authors. In Private Peaceful, he utilizes characterization, images, and setting to truly help the reader understand and relate to the plot.

Characterization plays a crucial role in making the reader connect to the plot. For example, in the start of the book, Tommy feels as if he does not belong in society.

He is also based on Charlie and admires him to safeguard him and direct him through life. But, towards the end of the story, Tommy becomes entirely independent and matures into a young, positive soldier. The circumstance shows the reader how war alters people not only on the outside however likewise on the inside. Another example is the friendship between Molly, Charlie, and Tommy. They had a deep relationship all through their early years and into their teens.

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Morpurgo then established that relationship into a relationship between Molly and Charlie. This eventually excludes Tommy from the group and contributes to the reality that he does not belong. The reader can relate to this if they have ever been excluded from a group or ever had a woman that they liked stolen kind them.

Another literary element that makes the reader link to the book is setting. The setting is extremely detailed. The Peacefuls' reside in Hatherleigh, England which is near the southern part the UK.

When Morpurgo describes where they live, the reader gets a picture of the setup of the town. He describes your house as an old cottage home which is next to a big hill. On top of that hill, the Colonel, the male that Tommy and Charlie's mother works for and the male that owns their home, resides in his mansion.

This provides an image that the reader can use throughout the story. Another example of where they live is the creek that lies just at the bottom of the hill where Molly, Charlie, and Tommy fished for trout when they were younger. This helps the reader connect situations to the picture that they already have of the layout of Hatherleigh. The setting then moves to France where Charlie and Tommy get thrown into the war. Morpurgo paints a mental picture of the setting as their bunker is right in front of no-man’s land and the enemy right on the other side of no-man’s land. He does this so the reader has an understanding of how close the enemy is to Tommy.

The final literary element used in this book is imagery. Morpurgo uses visual, auditory, and olfactory imagery in the book. He uses auditory when Charlie, Tommy, Hanley, and the rest of the squad are sitting in the bunker and Hanley is ordering them to make a break for it but Charlie ignores the order and the rest of the squad moves with Hanley. Morpurgo depicts the rattling of the machine guns and the screams of the soldiers that were cut short. The visual imagery is used when the wall of Germans are coming over no-man’s land.

He describes the German’s as an invincible wall that cannot be penetrated until he sees the Germans’ falling to their knees and falling over. This helps the reader see the wall and the Germans’ falling to their knees. Olfactory imagery is used when he is in the bunkers in France. Tommy smells men that have not taken showers in weeks and the stench of death. The reader now has an understanding of what war and death smells like. This makes the reader feel as if he or she were in Paris.

The literary elements in the story bring the whole story together. The characterization, imagery, and setting makes the reader connect to the book and not just understand it. This book really explains the cost of war on cities as well as the people in it.