Impression: At first, the reader is slightly confused as to what is happening in the story and what has previously occurred. However, the author creates a very suspenseful plot by thinking out every detail and how they connect to events that occur. You can easily foreshadow many events due to the evidence given in the story. Actions of Bruce help you predict that something tragic may have occurred recently in hiss life. Not only does the author use extreme detail, but he also many rhetorical devices such as imagery to help describe what is going on. After finishing the story, the reader is left with a sense of curiosity and thoughtfulness. Overall, the first impression made on the reader is mysterious and even eerie.
Theme: There are almost two themes given in the story, depending on who's perspective you look at it from. The theme revealed early on in the story is that personal guilt can not be forgiven by others; only by yourself. This concept comes from Bruce and how he blames himself for the death of his best friend Raymond. One quote that can summarize these feelings is “Was it a look of anguish? Of guilt? Guilt that would always remain there, never to leave? “Guilt,” he whispered” (11). During the end, and from Oliver’s point of view, another theme surfaces. Oliver tried to kills Ed, Elaine, and Bruce to seek revenge on them for supposedly causing his brother’s death. The reader realizes that another theme or lesson learned is that revenge is not the same as justice and is not always fair.
Connection: A connection that affects not just me, but the whole community, is the act of drunk driving that occurs in the book. Though the actual driver of the car, Raymond, is not drunk, his buddy, Bruce, is. Bruce distracts Raymond and causes the car to crash. All too often, the sober driver of a car is killed when the cause of the crash was an intoxicated person, while the drunk ones walk away without a scratch.
https://docs.google.com/a/jcsnc.org/document/d/1YIKQ_LfXwemY-ryh6Dgya5pjD6Mc5jQxrs2hg0AyjqQ/edit
Rhetorical Devices: One rhetorical device used in The Executioner is imagery. Though this is an extremely common rhetorical device used, it really does help the reader understand the story better.Use of imagery such as “He leaned back and let the sun play over him as she guided the little sloop out from the dock and threaded it through the maze of anchored boats and out and free onto the glistening waters of the Sound,” creates extremely vivid views in the mind of the reader helping them picture the New York setting (108). Perhaps the biggest and most important rhetorical device used is foreshadowing. The whole plot revolves around the reader wondering who killed Ed and Elaine; even before the climax occurs in which the reader finds out that Oliver murdered them, many clues are given to hint at this fact. Without foreshadowing, the reader could not make any predictions about what would happen and there would be no suspense.
