Running in the Family By Michael Ondaatje Language The language used in Running in the Family is descriptive and poetic. The variety forms of figurative languages (especially metaphors and similes), vivid imagery, and unusual sentence structure Ondaatje utilized elaborate the sentences making the novel Running in the Family sounds more of a poem than a novel. For instance, the description of Hetti Corea's voice is written as a poem using simile and imagery: "Your voice …showed first 75 words of 366 total…

…showed last 75 words of 366 total…startled me the most are Mervyn Ondaatje, who received funds for three years of educational expanses in England yet does not pass the entrance exam and surreptitiously spent the money in parties and socializing, and Lala who is sexually insulted by a man in the bus yet remains indifferent and "smile(s) to herself". Although the novel is written in the form of semi-autobiography, the characters' unusual behaviors and characteristics make the novel sounds unbelievable.