Niru Nadesalingam Ms. Tumber ENG3U1-0? Tuesday April 19, 2010 ISU ESSAY Mystery novels always make the reader solve a puzzle alongside the main character/detective. “Stolen is a moody psychological novel with a series of finely drawn characters.
”(Chudley 293) Ron Chudley the author of Stolen creates a mystery, where he introduces the crime in the first few chapters and then injects many literary techniques to generate a sequence of suspenseful events. In Stolen, Ron Chudley incorporates narration, imagery, and diction to generate suspense rendering the novel an effective mystery.Ultimately, this story portrays a father losing his beloved son to strangers who are obsessed with obtaining the innocent child Nate. Throughout this novel, Chudley stays persistent in using an omniscient narrative style to create suspense. This Narrative approach is the least intimate style; however, this style enables the audience to view the characters from a certain degree, which will get everyone’s perspective on what is happening. “John knew he had to find his son before it was too late.
(47) This quote conveys to the readers about the level of desperation that John faced in finding his son before he is presumed dead. Right after that passage in the novel the narration flips to what Bud the villain is doing, “Bud hastily loaded his station-wagon knowing John would be on his trail. ” (48) The transition from the “detective” John to the “suspect” Bud makes the reader wonder if these two will ever meet. It makes the audience wonder if John will ever find his son if Bud runs away. The speculation in the readers mind creates suspense and makes them want to read further, which is what the author also desires.The audience knows John is following Bud, which produces dramatic irony because the audience knows information that the characters do not, thanks to a third person narration.
The Most predominant type of sensory imagery is visual imagery. In Stolen, Chudley uses visual imagery to create a treacherous atmosphere which hints the reader that something dangerous is going to take place. “Nate opened the door in the middle of the night and gazed at the Wetherall’s ebony trailer, knowing his teddy would be inside. (Chudley 40) The Wetherall’s ebony trailer is meant to create a dark image of the Wetherall’s, symbolizing them as villains.
When the narrator calls the trailer dark, the audience knows that something bad is going to happen to Nate, eventually they kidnap him. “John finally arrived at the entrance of Hell’s Gate, the park he always wanted to visit as a child. ”(Chudley 23) The image of “Hell’s Gate” gives the reader a clue that an awful event is about to take place because of the image of hell symbolizes death and darkness.The imagery allows the readers to create mental images from the words “Hell’s Gate,” which makes the audience wonder what is going to happen at this mysterious place. Chudley utilizes diction very carefully to create suspense throughout this novel.
The first example of diction is the connotation of the title Stolen. The denotation of stolen is an act of stealing a possession or theft. Chudley does not use the literal meaning of stolen, but uses an overtone of the word. When Chudley named the book Stolen, he meant that Nate, the child, was “stolen. Nate was a mere possession of John’s, but was kidnapped by the Wetherall’s.
The author cunningly utilized the word stolen to make the reader anticipate what object was being stolen; however, that object was John’s son Nate. Therefore, Stolen is an exhilarating mystery novel that has served its purpose of engaging the reader to solve its challenging puzzle alongside the main character John. Ron Chudley ingeniously uses narration, imagery, and diction to build suspense rendering the novel an effective mystery.
