The Winter Pier

Text 1: Golden Sands, by Gwendolen Haig

An original novel extract.

In August the pier had been all noise: the jangle of the arcades, children shrieking on the waltzer, the smell of doughnuts and suncream and frying onions. Now it was January, and Harold walked its length alone.

The kiosks were shuttered. Someone had sprayed a name across the candyfloss stall in dripping red letters. The wind came straight off the sea and cut through his coat, and the boards under his feet were dark with spray, and between them, through the gaps, he could see the grey water heaving far below. A gull stood on the rail and watched him with a cold yellow eye, as if he were trespassing.

At the end stood the arcade he had run for thirty years. Golden Sands, said the sign, though half the bulbs were broken and it said Go den San s. He pressed his face to the glass. Inside, under dust sheets, the machines crouched in rows like sleeping animals. He could almost hear them: the clatter of coins, the bells, the bright little tunes. He stood there until his hands went numb. Then he turned and walked back towards the town, and the wind pushed at him all the way, as though it wanted him gone.

How does Gwendolen Haig use language and structure to show how the pier has changed for Harold?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.