Writers often utilize various literary devices in order to enhance, or empower their works. One of the most effective of these devices is flashback. Flashback is commonly used to tell the reader more about the history of the plot, and also the history of the characters within the plot. In Elizabeth Bowen’s “The Demon Lover”, for example, flashback is used to explain Kathleen and the way she acts today based on events that took …showed first 75 words of 838 total…

…showed last 75 words of 838 total…to understand and relate to his brother. He wants to know Sonny. He wants to know where he has been, where he is going, who he is, and who he wants to become. We are taken through the many stages of Sonny’s life with the incorporation of flashback, which can be deemed necessary after understanding its value to the plot. A reader may have a difficult time understanding Sonny, or his blues without it.