Broken Toys

The extract, Broken Toys by Shaun Tan, is set in the context of a small neighbourhood. Through my understanding of narrative conventions such as plot, style, theme, setting and point of view, I am able to respond to the characters, Mrs Katayama, the two boys and the diver.

Through the use of setting, I am able to respond to Mrs Katayama in a lonesome way. She lives in a house by herself where her over back fence, "a barrage of incomprehensible abuse followed by the return of our model aeroplane sliced neatly in half - a further addition to our box of stray toys that had fallen into the old crone's backyard and come back dissected". Mrs Katayama's house is "dreaded with overgrown cherry trees" and has "weathered steps". These statements show that the outside of her house is left untouched and abandoned. Mrs Katayama never leaves the house unless it is to chuck broken toys over the fence. She seldom speaks except for the words, 'Who is there?' and 'Go away!' From her lack of dialogue and absence from outside, I am able to respond to her in a lonely and isolated way.

In considering style, I am able to respond to the two young boys in a nasty way. The boys are unsure if they should approach the diver, so short sentences such as, "We crept closer" and "We backed off" are used to create tension. When the boys encounter the diver, they find him very strange so decide to head him towards Mrs Katayama, who they nicknamed, 'Mrs Bad News' as they see her as a daunting woman who has broken many of their toys. From this, I am able to respond to the boys in a nasty way as they thought it would be funny to head him in that direction, even though they were aware that they were putting the diver in risk.