Essay: Kiss Of The Fur Queen

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There are some moments in life when people feel completely desperate; people want to achieve a goal so badly that they will expend all of their energy and will power to reach what they desire. This overwhelming sense of desperation is captured in Tomson Highway’s novel, Kiss of the Fur Queen. In the novel’s opening, the reader is introduced to Abraham Okimasis, who is pushing both himself and his eight grey huskies to the limit in hopes of securing a victory in a dogsled race. With the use of literary devices such as natural diction, desperate diction, repetition, and similes, Highway dramatizes Okimasis’ experience as he endeavors to reach the finish line. Highway utilizes a plethora of natural diction in order to paint the unforgiving backdrop of Okimasis’ journey. He writes that the sky was “orange-rose-tinted” (Highway 3), in order to foreground Okimasis’ ardent passion to win the race. If the sky were blue, the setting may appear tranquil. However, the orange sky establishes an intensity that the scene may lack in its nonappearance. Highway also relates the “freezing temperatures and freezing winds” (Highway 12) that Okimasis must …show more content…

Rather than just “saying” or “speaking” to his huskies, Okimasis cries “Mush!” (Highway 5), which adds to the despondency and desperation of the scene. This diction is coupled with a simile, as Highway states that Okimasis was bellowing “like a man about to sob” (Highway 5). This exhibits to the reader that Okimasis is exerting himself so rigorously that he is almost at tears. His distressed motivation is also mirrored in his team of dogs, as they “look like insubstantial wisps of air” (Highway 15). This allows the reader to understand just how unfathomably quickly the huskies are running. This combination of desperate diction and similes further portrays the immense sense of exhaustion and incentive that is present in Okimasis’

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