The Tattooist of Auschwitz: Style 1 key example

The narration is generally direct and spare. It avoids a large amount of descriptive embellishment or elaborate language. This directness is always notably there, even in violent or highly emotional scenes. Morris’s consistent and almost journalistic voice gives a sense of immediacy to the events of the book. It presents the harsh realities of the camp without excessive commentary from the narrator, making the reader draw their own conclusions about the horrors of Auschwitz. During action sequences or tense moments the author also uses more clipped, concise language. This creates a sense of urgency as Lale fights to survive. By contrast, during romantic or hopeful moments—particularly those between Lale and Gita—the sentences become slightly longer and dreamier. These shifts in style help to differentiate the emotional landscapes that Lale moves through.

Descriptions of people and of physical spaces in The Tattooist of Auschwitz tend to focus on concrete, material details. The narrator often focuses on colors and temperatures, as if they are the details that have stuck most strongly in Lale’s memories. The book also includes very specific depictions of bodies and bodily functions, uniforms, and food. This concentration on even the smallest of physical elements grounds the story in the readers’ senses. The dialogue throughout the novel is mostly as clipped and practical as its figurative language. Conversations often revolve around exchanging essential information because of the constant danger the characters are in. In a concentration camp like Auschwitz, casual, nonessential speech (especially the luxury of extended conversations) was often cut short or punished with violence.