The Tug-of-War

Text 1: The Anchor, by Hugo Pennefather

An original short story extract.

The rope was as thick as Ellie’s wrist and rough as a cat’s tongue, and she had it wound round her waist and tucked under her arm the way Uncle Bryn had taught her, because she was the anchor and the anchor did not let go. In front of her, seven backs in green T-shirts leaned out over the grass at the same steep angle, like a row of trees in a gale.

On the other end, the Castle Arms team, eight men with forearms like hams, had not moved an inch in two minutes. Neither had Brantwick. The white ribbon tied to the middle of the rope hung over the centre line, trembling, as if it could not decide. The crowd had gone from cheering to a strange low roar, and then to nothing at all.

‘Heave!’ yelled Bryn. ‘And heave!’ Ellie dug her heels into the turf and pulled until the world went red at the edges. Her palms were burning. Her shoulders were tearing out of their sockets. Then, very slowly, the ribbon began to move. An inch. Another. The Castle Arms anchor slipped, swore, scrabbled, and suddenly the whole of their line was stumbling forward, and the rope came pouring towards Brantwick like water, and Ellie sat down hard on the wet grass, still holding on, and could not stop laughing.

How does Hugo Pennefather use language and structure to show the tension and excitement of the tug-of-war?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.