Symbolism In The Narrow Road To The Deep North

Flanagan, through the book the Narrow Road to the Deep North, creates a representation of Prisoner of War experiences in World War II. Through clever manipulation of characters, textual and linguistic features, he has effectively portrayed war experiences as something more complex than violence; but one full of belonging, isolation and love. Using characterisation and aesthetic features, Flanagan has created a successful representation of the theme isolation in the book by portraying isolation in different elements throughout the book.

Flanagan creates a representation of the theme of isolation from an ideological perspective. Ideological isolation stems from a difference in moral, spiritual beliefs or opinions from the group. In the extract,

Rexroth, through the use description created by Flanagan, is portrayed in a different manner to the rest of the men. Rexroth is described as “a study in irreconcilable contrasts”. Flanagan has used a metaphor to purposely create an imagery of Rexroth as being different from the rest of the men. The phrase “irreconcilable contrasts” is powerful, as it emphasises the oddity of Rexroth’s physicality in comparison to the rest of the Prisoner of Wars. Furthermore, it is stated in the extract how Gallipoli von Kessler thought Rexroth sounded as though he were “playing a flute out of his arse”. This further use of metaphor accentuates the difference between Rexroth and the rest of the men, therefore creating an ostracisation of Rexroth to the rest of the men. The difference in physicality is highlighted effectively in the use of the metaphors and therefore creating Rexroth’s physical isolation.

The manipulation of aesthetic features such as contrasting diction, repetition and metaphors combined with textual features in the form of character foils have allowed Flanagan to capture isolation in both an ideological and physical perspective. These features have also allowed Flanagan to employ the characters of Dorrigo Evans and Colonel Rexroth to capture the theme of isolation in a Prisoner of War