War

The idea of War has been portrayed successfully throughout the novel by using many different symbols. When Kingshaw first arrives, Hooper has set out the toy soldiers to block Kingshaw’s path. The sense of power, controlling all the soldiers has brought Hooper power, as if he is the commando, trying to take down their enemies, the intruders.

The sense of war also being reminded by the name of the house “Warings”; a specifically chosen name by Hill. Hooper, with the idea of watching his enemy, without being spotted like a scout in the military, the one who watches and gather information. “When they arrived by car, he locked his door. But he watches them, tilting the mirror so that he could look down into the drive without being seen himself.” This is a way in military, where they can keep track of the enemy without being spotted or being fired at, a really useful way to follow someone, which was resembled through Hooper in this novel.

Another technique that is used in the military, has been referred by “The boy, Charles Kingshaw, was glancing up, seeing the sudden flash of the mirror”. By using a mirror, a flash light or a source of light, you can communicate with others. For a flash light or a mirror, you can reflect the light rapidly towards the person you wanted to communicate. In this, Hooper used it to get Charles attention and throw down a note with a warning that terrified Kingshaw: “I DON’T WANT YOU TO COME HERE”.