71 pages • 2 hours read
Holly JacksonFive Survive
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Repetition
Jackson uses repetition to create tension, signify trauma, and explore the mental states of different characters. The repetition of “red dot” highlights the constant danger the characters face, creating tension in the novel. Similarly, Red’s compulsive repetition of the RV’s length, which is 31 feet, highlights the way her mind works and how she becomes obsessed with a thought to avoid thinking about her trauma. Regarding Oliver, the narrator repeatedly describes Oliver as having “puppet strings.” First, this implies his impulsiveness controls him; his emotions are his puppeteer, pulling the puppet strings. Second, it points to Oliver’s performance, which is tied to his toxic masculinity. Oliver is constantly performing the role of the patriarchal leader, who is always in control. However, as the novel progresses, his performance becomes increasingly unhinged.
Jackson also uses structural repetition in the form of flashbacks. Red keeps having flashbacks about her mom, and readers learn about Grace’s death as the flashbacks get more intense and immersive. This creates a sense of unity between the reader's perspective and Red’s mental state and perspective. Since Five Survive is a mystery and thriller novel, the slow dissemination of information signifies Red’s trauma and sustains tension, keeping readers invested.
Personification
Jackson uses personification to create tension, mystery, and paranoia in Five Survive, turning the darkness around the RV into a dangerous entity with agency. The narrative voice, and by extension Red, continuously describes the surrounding nature with human attributes, often connected to power. For example, when describing Simon’s celebratory cry, the narrator says; “Simon whooped, and the scrubland stole his voice, echoing it back, stripping it of anything human. An otherworldly cry in the night” (50). Here, Jackson’s choice to describe the scrubland as a thief gives the landscape agency over Simon, shifting the power dynamics between the human characters, and the nonhuman, natural wilderness that traps them in darkness and uncertainty.
Similarly, when everyone is stuck inside the RV, Jackson portrays the outside and the darkness as an invasive force: “[T]hey could now pretend they were safe in here, without the outside breathing in through the window” (94). Later in the novel, the outside is described as “waiting for them with open arms” (166). By describing the outside as a breathing, waiting entity, Jackson creates tension between inside and outside, with the outside represented as an unpredictable, powerful force that anticipates the human character's struggle.
Third-Person Point of View
Five Survive is written in the third-person limited point of view, which allows Jackson control over the pacing of the narrative while maintaining tension and suspense. Since the narrator narrates from the limited perspective of Red, at times, there is no distinguishing element between the narrator’s voice and Red’s. As a result, readers feel sympathetic toward Red and are privy to her private thoughts, unlike the other characters. Furthermore, since readers are experiencing the events through Red’s perspective, readers are only as aware as she is. This allows Jackson to maintain suspense and execute plot twists by withholding information. On the other hand, by using a third-person limited perspective, Jackson also creates moments of distance between the narrative voice and Red’s voice. As a result, readers are not always aware of Red’s thoughts, which makes her a character with secrets whose arc is revealed over the course of the narrative.
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