He loved the whip of the wind

The passage started with a short physical description of Storm Boy—his look, his clothes. Then it showed some of his character by showing how he reacted to a problem (when it got cold he put on his father’s coat and went outside again).

The last snippet in this passage explains that reaction. It shows Storm Boy’s attitude.

Here it is.

For he couldn’t bear to be inside. He loved the whip of the wind too much, and the salty sting of the spray on his cheek like a slap across the face, and the endless hiss of the dying ripples at his feet.
For Storm Boy was a storm boy.

Storm Boy(1963)

Storm Boy loved his environment; he loves the world around him.

‘the whip of the wind’
‘the salty sting of the spray’
‘like a slap across the face’
‘the endless hiss if the dying ripples’

The origins of his name are explained in the story.

Occasionally campers would see Storm Boy wandering the beach after a storm (he loved to beachcomb at this time). Mistaking him for a lost child, they’d try to get help to rescue him, only to be told by the locals not to worry.

‘That’s Hide-Away’s little chap. He’s your boy in the storm.’
And from then on everyone called him Storm Boy.

What this snippet also implies, is that it’s more than a nickname. Storm Boy is as wild as his home!

Notice how two sentences begin with the word For? It’s kind of old-timey, antique language, but you can begin a sentence with For to explain something you’ve just said. For example:

He would wear a coat outside in the wind. For he couldn’t bear to be inside.
He loved being in storms. For he was a storm boy.

You could join these sentences together with a comma and they still mean the same thing:

He would wear a coat outside in the wind, for he couldn’t bear to be inside.
He loved being in storms, for he was a storm boy.

But the change in rhythm changes the feeling a little. Using the full stop and beginning a new sentence with For slows the pace, puts in a beat that helps create that timeless, poetic feeling that runs throughout the story.

Here are some examples. If you want, go back and check the previous snippet examples to see how they link together.

For she loved to be ignored. Amelia craved the quiet calm of exploring overlooked places, the sweet pleasure of unearthing unwanted trinkets like a junkyard archaeologist, and the pure joy of being part of a secret, overlooked world.
For Amelia didn’t call herself homeless. She was a treasure hunter.

For he was all about taking it easy. He loved the bake of the sun on the bay, and the damp shade in the marsh like a cool cloth on his back, and the slow tumble of the clouds in the endless dome of the sky.
For Xavier was the lord of chill.

Write your own variation.

Observing and describing in Storm Boy 2: Describing a person

He loved the whip of the wind