Analysis of Narrative in the Eggers Essay The Long Ride to Riyadh

How Eggers Sets the Scene in His Essay.

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In the essay The long Ride To Riyadh Eggers employs descriptive literature in his works. The story setting takes place during the day time. The author of the story is a middle-aged man by the name Eggers. He has been living in Saudi Arabia with his friends. The closest friend is Majed. After realizing that the flight will be taking off from a different airport, he together with the friend finds a driver to take him to Riyadh. The story begins with both the narrator and his accomplice, the driver, traveling by Toyota Sedan car.

Their objective is to reach Riyadh from Jeddah in less than seven hours through the desert. Because of authors projection, he fears that his friend might have decided to revenge for sarcastic comments he made. He is contemplating to throw himself from the speeding car. However, after the narrator decides not to throw himself after some self-consolation. The car driver, though not experienced as-as per the author, moves fast enough to arrive Riyadh two hours to time. To his surprise, the friend has already paid the transport cost.

Sensory Language in the Narrative

The narrator makes the events look real. Vivid descriptions of the events surrounding the narrator bring both sight and sound feel to the reader. The descriptions of the events take the reader away from reading into an imagination world. Every step of the narration carries both emotional tones as well as imagery. One can feel the fear grow as the reading goes on. The events are arranged such that imaginary soils in the desert, the rocks, the speeding car and the feeling of discomposure of the author are real. Mental pictures of how Majed talks over the phone and the feelings implicated to the narrator due to doubts on the strange driver's behavior.

What Egger does to Make Things Comfortable with the Driver?

The narrator seeks to kill boredom brought by the language barrier. A conversation between them would bring comfort. As they travel, he does two specific things that shows desire to draw drivers attention and bring comfort.

Firstly, to create a friendly climate, the author goes to his backpack, opens it and among other things, he chooses his family photo. He says to himself, with this, the driver will realize that I have a family. According to him, showing the driver his family will delude him the thought of doing harm. Shadad only looks at the picture and smiles. The author doesnt understand what is going on in the driver's mind. Probably starting a conversation would bring the humanity feeling. Unfortunately, there is a language barrier between them.

Secondly, As they stop to refill the gas, the author offers to buy the driver something from the shop. Shadad declines to accept snacks. However, the narrator goes on to buy two sodas and a big packet of crackers to bring comfort in the car. Probably as a show of humanity and care.

The Purpose of the Narrative

The narrator remembers Shane Bauer. He was a translator in the present day South Sudan. The narrator realizes that Bauer was imprisoned in Iran years later. The lessons make Egger doubt strangers, particularly in a new nation. The purpose of the story is to show how different judgemental point of view often deviates from the reality.

The Elements of Structure that Make the Narrative Engaging

The narrator presented his position in a more precise manner. The flow of events has adequate sensory backings. Evidently, every aspect of development incorporates the narrator's point of view. The mental features and remembrance of what happened to his friends seem to be the juxtaposition of what awaits him. To make the audience continue reading, the author has employed a great sense of suspense. It is almost clear that death awaits him. However, the conclusion is contrary to the expectations. The turn of events is spectacular resulting into a happy end to the long ride.