How does Kay introduce tension in ‘House and Home’?-(first draft)
One way in which Kay introduces tension in the first chapter, ‘House and Home’ is through the unanswered questions that the chapter itself presents. An example of this is shown through the opening line ‘I pull the curtain back an inch and see their heads bent together’. This opening quote is effective because it instantly introduces the theme of tension and therefore foreshadows how it will have a dominant role in shaping the play. It is evidential of tension because it shows instant conflict between the narrator (Millicent Moody) and the ‘heads’ she is describing; it creates the image that she is hiding from something or is trapped. The word ‘their’ in this case indicates this, because it shows the dramatic contrast between herself, from the use of the word ‘I’ and the others, from the use of the word ‘their’. By doing so, it almost opens the scene like a battle ground which is effective because it intrigues and confuses the reader as to who the narrator is hiding from. In addition to this, the word ‘bent’ suggests the idea of a conspiracy and plot against the narrator, which again reinforces the idea of an ongoing conflict and feud against the narrator and the heads. Interestingly enough the author Jackie Kay introduces the people that the narrator is hiding from as ‘heads’. Kay may have intended to do this to add an element of mystery and secrecy to the book; as a result, this secrecy creates tension.