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Nollopton Toes, October 17
Nate, I'm not sure this letter will reach you, though I pray the contrary. Time is running out. We cannot go below 47. As much as we try — that is, those who are still trying. I'm aware that some are still laboring at the university. Mother writes to Cousin Ella that she continues her own moiling over the alphabet up in the Village. But the mass exit has nonetheless begun. Townspeople. Villagers.
As three more tiles have given plunge. All in one evening. Two "e's," then a "b."
We have one "e" remaining. The "b" may be a blessing. Other possibilities might have been more troublesome. (Yet as I peruse what I have written up to now, I note six "b"s in the last two sentences!) Who, then, can ever be sure about such a thing? At this point, losing any letter can only be problematic.
We have come to a travailious time, Nate. Mother's Rory is gone. Mother, Aunt Gwenette, Uncle Amos — each has one violation to spare, then banishment. I am growing so weary with that term. "Banishment." You hear it all over. In urgent whispers; in hopeless cries. Companion to the listless, vacant stares — stares belonging to those who live in resignation to the grimmest possible outcome, all but put to seal. "Banishment." We say the term. We write the term. Believing somehow that in 36 hours, it surely will not be gone. That somehow the cavalry will come to our rescue!
But we are our own cavalry. The only cavalry there is. Whose horses seem in permanent hobble status!
"Banishment": the next banishment victim! To become one more invisiblinguista. The 4000th, 5000th such victim? Is anyone counting? Perhaps Nollop? Expunging each entry in his Heavenly Lexicon — one at a time — until the tome's pages stop resembling pages at all. Until they become pure expurgatory— tangibull. Raven— striate leaves. Ebony reticulate sheets. Tenebrous night in thin tissue. (Dunn chapter 6)
The details that Dunn chooses to include are also important. He tells the reader, "But the mass exit has nonetheless begun. Townspeople. Villagers" (Dunn ch. 6) The people who lived in Nollopton are leaving because they feel they have no choice. They have been so oppressed by the government that their town is unbearable to live in. Nollopton has fallen apart because of totalitarianism and how the government became too controlling. Dunn is showing the reader that a totalitarianism government will tear apart a society.
Syntax used in this passage is also important. Dunn uses this literary device very specifically in the quote, ""Banishment." You hear it all over. In urgent whispers; in hopeless cries. Companion to the listless, vacant stares — stares belonging to those who live in resignation to the grimmest possible outcome, all but put to seal. "Banishment.""(Dunn ch. 6). The repetition of the word banishment shows how scared the citizens are of being sent away from Nollopton. The words hopeless, vacant stares, and resignation all exemplify how Dunn is showing the reader that the citizens are so oppressed by the government that they have lost any spirit. This shows how detrimental totalitarianism can be to a town.
I would recommend this book to anyone in high school and older. They would be most likely to appreciate the style of the book because it is written all in letters. They would also more understand the theme of this book and how it is exemplified in an entertaining way.