Need help finding technique in this quote (1 Viewer)

[Black Cat]

Can someone help me find a technique in this quote
“overwhelmed by Abigail and the girls, All the girls begin whimpering exactly as she does"
Thank you

 

[Deadboxes]

Emotive Language

 

[flowerp]

You can talk about how the stage directions (in bold) : "Mary Warren, utterly confounded, and becoming overwhelmed by Abigail’s - and the girls’ - utter conviction, starts to whimper, hands half raised, powerless, and all the girls begin whimpering exactly as she does" highlight the way individuals desperately seek protection in times of fear

 

[jessyaknow]

Can someone help me find a technique in this quote
“overwhelmed by Abigail and the girls, All the girls begin whimpering exactly as she does"
Thank you

I really feel like you choose the wrong section of those stage directions to quote because it's not particularly rich in meaning or techniques. But just for something to say about it: you could say it represents the moment of triumph for the girls as it is when Mary is no longer fighting against them but "whimpering" like a beaten animal. They have won. There is a bit of situational irony to this because the girls supposed to be the afflicted ones and Mary the big bad wolf that has taken control of them yet they are the ones mimicking Mary Warren's pain at being victimised by them. The line "All the girls begin whimpering exactly as she does" probably captures this ironic power dynamic, and you call it situational irony because it's only ironic in the wider context of what's really going on here.

However, I think this is a better quote for capturing Mary being overwhelmed if that's what you're after :
“Mary Warren, utterly confounded, and becoming overwhelmed by Abigail - and the girl’s - utter conviction, starts to whimper, hands half raised, powerless”

This is the moment where the tide changes and her resolve is crumpled by the resistance of Abigail and the girls. The asyndeton of "starts to whimper, hands half raised, powerless” symbolises the compilation of her internal doubts with the external emotional pressure of fear and hysteria exerted upon her culminating in an overwhelming experience of disempowerment; the moment where she surrenders.

Asyndeton is when you don't put in a clause like and, or, but etc and just have commas between (often short) words or phrases. It's supposed to make things feel a bit more fast-paced, impactful or intense. A famous example is Julius Caesar quote "I came, I saw, I conquered". It's basically when things are listed quickly with commas. In this quote, it's "starts to whimper, hands half raised, powerless". It has the effect of presenting the intensity of this moment of culmination where all the emotion becomes too much and she surrenders to it.