description

Seierstad's description is simple yet powerful. She does not go on long, hyperbolic rants about grand details, rather brings to the front of the readers' minds the images of smaller things that seem to make the larger whole that much more meaningful. For example, on page 9, when she is describing the fire in the street, she describes everything but the fire, making the fire seem that much more important. Follow me here: she describes the children playing near the "flames that cast dancing shadows across their dirty faces", she describes how the adults "stole a glance at the fire and hastened by", she says that the fire was obviously "in the service of God". She doesn't try and tell the reader about the strength of the flames lapping at the objects used as impromptu firewood or describe how the fire looked visually. By describing the smaller aspects surrounding the fire, Seierstad gives the reader perhaps a more complete description than direct adjectives ever could.