Nine_Tailors

Commentary This passage by Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Nine Tailors” is a highly descriptive one which, clearly portrays the dynamic situation in which the main protagonist of the passage, Whimsey is climbing up a belfry. The author has skillfully manipulated the setting of this extract so as to create an atmosphere of tension and menace throughout the passage. Her extensive use of details, vivid imagery and literary devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, simile and juxtaposition add to the suspenseful tone and enhance the uncertainty of the situation. The opening sentence of this passage “Whimsey did not want to hear anymore” instantly draws the readers to conclude that the passage begins in the middle of an action. This in media res itself is successful in introducing the suspense that is seen to prevail all through the passage. The short statement immediately grabs the attention of the readers as they are unaware of the instances that led Whimsey to enter the belfry door. Perhaps it must be his insatiable curiosity of what lies up there or a task that was given to him to go up there but by hiding these events, the author had managed to build up a state of tension in the minds of the readers. This tension is dispelled with the concluding statement of this passage “As he flung the door behind him, the demoniac clangour sank back into the pit, to rise again, transmuted to harmony, through the louvers of the belfry windows. This long complex sentence aims to juxtapose the tension created in the entire passage with the harmony that rises when Whimsey has finally escaped from the bell tower. Extended metaphor of bells