War Of The Clowns By Mia Couto

A fight always brings in extra conflict. It is apart of human nature to pick a side in any given argument, whether it is physical or verbal. Yet in this task, humans harm their ways of life, just as they did in the story. It can be seen when played out, but in literature the story must specify its tone to allow the reader to know what is happening. Imagery is also important as it allows the reader to get a mental image of the situation at hand. In the short story War of the Clowns, author Mia Couto uses tone and imagery to develop the plot of his fictional war.

In the short story Mia Couto effectively sets the tones to create a better understanding of the story. At the beginning of the story, the reader gets the feeling that it will be a calm and silly story. With two clowns arguing, “who could take them seriously” (Couto 4). The reader may believe that the story will be very comedic since it is just about a clown fight. Yet the story takes a big turn after the fight gets more and more serious, to the point where an innocent bystander gets hurt. “Terror reigned over the whole city” (Couto 38) showing a major tone shift in the story. The

inhabitants of the city at this point are now dead, and the reader senses a serious and sinister tone in the story, which seems to have been the true tone of the story all of this time. Without the author’s use of tone, the story would have become confusing as to what the reader is supposed to feel.
In the flash fiction Mia Couto effectively uses imagery to create a better understanding of the story.

The story begins with “two clowns [who] set themselves to arguing” (Couto 1), allowing the people of the city to view a comedic site. The clowns express themselves to the people as harmless giving the people nothing to worry about, yet later on their true intentions are revealed. Up to the end, the clowns are in fact evil as everyone becomes aggressive toward each other as they supposedly planned all along. In the end “they crossed the city destroyed…and they went in search of another” (Couto 43-44). The reader finally sees and understands who the clowns are and how sinister they become. Without the author’s use of imagery, the story would have become less understandable as there would be no way to see what was going

on.
In order to effectively develop the plot, Couto properly uses tone and imagery in the flash fiction War of the Clowns. For the story to be more understandable, he gives a visual image, as well as the generic feel of the story. A fight can look silly, but behind all of the comedy people may see is a dark, sinister intention. Accidental or not, everyone extends the conflict if affected by it in any way, whether it be beneficial or not. Prepare yourself, for the next fight may lead to world war.