Commentaire de Netherland par O'Neill

« COMMENTAIRE In this excerpt of Netherland, Irish writer Joseph O’NEILL shows the aftermath of the terrorist attack in September 2011 through the thoughts of a dutch family and the consequences it had on them emotionally.

Thus, all throughout the text, tension is filled with symbolical aspects.

This tension relies on one main device : the transmission of a stressful atmosphere. To what extent is the text rhythmed by some kind of duality which permits to insert fiction into reality and even, to melt them all-together ? First, the language questions the vision of reality through the eyes of the narrator.

But, secondly, a dream-like aspect takes over the diegesis. First, the feeling of anxiety is palpable throughout the whole extract.

The narrator’s voice shapes a different New York the reader would know.

The settings and lights reflects tension. After Nine eleven came a time of anxiety, fear, and discomfort outside.

Despite the United States being a very safe country, such an awful attack still occurred and had a toll on not only the victims but everyone all around the globe.

The narrator highlights that in the extract.

Words reflecting fear are abundant such as "terror" (line 8), "cries" (line 9), "anxiety" (line 33)… The reader is made to understand that the characters are terrified and cannot distinguish good from bad anymore.

Danger could be lurking anywhere, and therefore the emotions of the narrator biases the description.

The simple sound of a motorbike becomes terrifying and alters the realism in the text. The writing style of author Joseph O’NEILL brings here a lot of descriptive passages, similarly to what American author Scott Fitzgerald did in his novel The Great Gatsby.

Just like Gatsby’s diegesis, New York is portrayed here as different and altered from how it once was.

Both authors specifically makes sure to involve at. »