The mood created by the language in this passage can best be described as D. Desperate. The imagery of sinking, loss, and the speaker's longing for the innocence and safety of swaddling conveys a sense of desperation and grief over the past. The mention of her father's sinking and the overall tone reflects a struggle with feelings of helplessness and longing for comfort in a chaotic situation.
Sinking and swaddled by Beth gilstrap
She swore she felt the earth drop-like a hitch in an elevator— several miles from her mother's house. She thought of all those bedlinens agitated, curled, heaped on top of her mother, sunk along with everything else, beams, roof tiles, the acrylic nails her mom wore, the senselessness of waste. Her father had sunk, too.
Years ago, in a prefab home out on the lake. One day the lake rose a mite and the ground dove a mite and from what her mother said, her father was better off down there, probably still passed out on his leather couch. Ona had been swaddled and maneuvered into the bow of a rowboat and, as legend tells, slept through the whole affair. Perhaps it was this swaddling she longed for more than anything with all this terrible sinking going on.
Which best describes the mood that is created by the language in this passage?
A. Insecure
B. Suspenseful
C. Optimistic
D. Desperate
1 answer
1 answer