The name “Dungatar” used to depict the essence of the town as “dull” and “unclean”, where the reader is positioned as a third person, viewing the characters from another point of view. The clichés of small town life are reinforced as all the characters seem to know each other, as quoted in the text, “You can’t keep anything a secret here… Everybody knows everything about everyone…” (pg 33). 

The reader’s are positioned to believe that Dungatar is a judgmental, small-minded, country town, stereotypical of small country towns. This cliché is evident when Molly tells Tilly over tea that “You can’t keep anything secret here…Everybody knows everything about everyone but no one ever tittle-tattles because then someone else’ll tell on them.” (pg. 33) 

Ham introduces quite a few characters in succession within the first three chapters. The majority of the time, these characters are described through another person’s perspective, often with one highlighted characteristic emphasizing that, in Dungatar, everyone knows everyone. For instance, Mona Beaumont is described through the character Sergeant Farrat, who identifies her character by her way of speech: ‘Mona had a way of making words flat and long.'

Rosalie Ham writes in the third-person perspective. She utilises figurative language such as personification in order to establish her character’s and their traits, and the setting. Ham uses personification addressing the hill with capital letters, “The Hill cast a shadow over the town…” (pg. 1) to make it seem as if the hill is a living thing. Other figurative language such as imagery, to set the scene, and metaphors to add description, are used throughout the novel so far. 

Ham’s writing style and technique is used to incorporate figurative language into each characters’ choice of words. For example, Mona Beaumont is a name used to depict her as a posh lady, as well as the use of figurative language as she speaks. “Mother sa-ays the girls around here are un-refined” which expands our image and view of her. 

Ham writes in third person, switching back and force between multiple perspectives. She uses highly descriptive language, with quite a few similes and metaphors present. For instance, when Teddy sees his sisters doing the laundry upon arriving home, he describes the action through a simile: ‘Elizabeth and Mary wrung a sheet, coiled like fat toffee between them.’