comment on language / style

The language of the narrative employs a relatively normal vocabulary and in spite of the fact that Cooley Ridge in a rural town in the North Carolina mountains, the characters do not tend to use southern expressions. Exceptions occur as Everett notices Nic’s accent at the bar, the man who knows Nic’s father and calls her “hon, ” and Nic slips into a very southern manner of speaking when she says, “Must’ve torn her up something good…” (82). The lack of southern vocabulary could be due to Nic’s wish to not let readers know what type of place she has returned to as she always thought that she was better than the place and worked so hard to escape it. Her friends and family should not speak in a southern manner, but it is okay for a man in a bar to do so. The lack of such a manner of speaking makes it even more shocking for the readers when they come across it. Thus, when she speaks the way she does on page 82, readers pay attention and know that this is the real Nic.