Death in the Woods

“She was an old woman and lived on a farm near the town in which I lived. All country and small-town people have seen such old women, but no one knows much about them.”

The opening sentences of “Death in the Woods” gives the reader an idea of what to expect, using a bit of hyperbole. Readers will expect to learn the tale of an old woman, and the author uses words such as “all” and “no one” to familiarize her with his audience. Surely, her sight isn’t seen in every single town, but readers will recognize his exaggeration as being a common sight altogether.

“I have just suddenly now, after all these years, remembered her and what happened. It is a story.”

This is not just a story about the old woman. The narrator is a character himself, and he is transparent from the beginning that he is telling none other than a story based on a foundation of facts. Therefore, he is an unreliable narrator, and the reader should beware of confusing every detail as a fact.

“There was a look of defiance in his eyes… He did not say anything actually. ‘I’d like to bust one of you on the jaw,’ was about what his eyes said.”

This passage uses personification. Eyes can’t say anything, and this description evokes the old idiom about the eyes as a doorway to the soul. Jake Grimes does not literally speak in this moment, but the reader, and the other characters, can infer his thoughts through the look in his eyes.