Diction and Syntax in "The Shack"

           William Young does his best to vary the diction and syntax that is used throughout this book. He uses a lot of informal diction to show how the holy characters in this book are attempting to relate to a normal man. One such example of this would be when "Papa", AKA God, is speaking to Mack, the normal man in the book, "I'm not asking you to believe anything..." (Young, 119). Instead of demanding that Mack stop being so narrow-minded, God uses simple words such as "asking" to show that she isn't asking anything of Mack. She is trying to let Mack know that she is on his side, and this contributes to the overall theme of this story, which is "Love should be showed in every way possible". Another type of diction that is used is the story is abstract diction. The main word that stands out is "love". This word is used over and over again, and becomes so repetitious that after seeing it, you can't help but wonder if it is truly being felt by the characters.

Syntax is another tool that is used by William Young. He uses long, explanatory sentences whenever God is trying to show Mack something about religion and the world. He uses short to medium length sentences whenever informal discussion is taking place. In the entire book, maybe one or two sentences have less than five words, which shows that this book really is philosophical and requires long sentences for all of the information.

As the aforementioned paragraphs show, Young is a versatile author with a lot to offer in the language arts department. He uses different diction and syntax to get his point across to the audience, and he also uses it to show the tone and style with which he writes.