Storm on the Island - Key Quotes

Spits like a tame cat turned savage

- Simile (Z)
- Impression that the storm is wild and uncontrollable (W)
- Something that seems innocent can be deadly (W)
- Enjambment highlights how it can't be tamed or controlled (Z)

We are prepared

- Strong statement, caesura
- Emphasises the confidence and security of the Islander, they feel safe
Ironic
- Conveys the speaker's certainty

You can listen to the thing you fear, forgetting it pummels your house too

- Danger imagery
- Personification
- "Pummels" suggests the air is fighting the people
- People are so caught up in their own problems they forget the problems in their surrondings

We are bombarded by the empty air

- Military imagery
- Bombarded = empty air strikes
- Shows the intensity of attacks from an invisible, untouchable being.

Strange, it is a huge nothing we fear

- Juxtaposition and irony
- Emphasises the frightfulness of air
- Contrast between "huge nothing" and "rock" makes the storm more menacing because human preparation wasn't enough