Yo
I have just returned from holiday so apologies for lack of communication. Here is my plan as promised, while i was away i sat with vaoel and highlighted a lot of stuff but i did not have my laptop therefore it is not typed up. anyway, here is the basic idea and i shall upload a more bulked out version once I type up all the quotes
Question: A comparative study of how O’Farrell examines the themes of claustrophobia and isolation in ‘After You’d Gone’, ‘the Distance Between Us’ and ‘The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox’.
Introduction
Begin with a quotation from a secondary resource that summarises the concepts that you will be dealing with.
Explain how this is shown in all three texts without plot telling and how each, in turn relates to the question.
Read the dissertation – number 5 or 6 on the understanding standards website and use this as a template for an introduction.
Main Body of Dissertation
First Concept – How effectively does O’Farrell’s use of characterisation highlight the theme of claustrophobia?
Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Interpretations of surrondings- Zoetrope – inability to interact as there is and endless cycle of thoughts that she can’t escape.
Relationships- (general) - Esme’s view on marriage- trapped, doesn’t want to be tied
down.
-(Kitty)-
Life vs. Freedom of death- Esme kills Kitty at the end through suffocation, ‘Tight
foam stuffing.’ Page272
- After she feels, ‘relief that the noise has stopped.’ Page272
- Contemplates suicide= freedom ‘relief of the fall..’ page219
Escapism- From Cauldstone- page 220
After You’d Gone
Interpretations of surroundings– “It seemed her life…” – highlighted by contrast to the fast pace cycle of life that she is unable to enter as she remains trapped and still can’t move forward. - Page 11
- She is unable to think straight - page 7
- Unable to comprehend – tight as a clam
- ‘Shadow hovering over me...’ page201
Relationships- (Mario) -‘clamped to her side...’ - page 28
- ‘struggled free’- page30
- ‘ Wrapped his arm around her, suffocatingly’ page31
- Drowning at the beach- page68
Life vs freedom of death- ‘She just loosened her fingers and the breeze snatched it
away.’- page40
- ‘The narrowing down of clean white days…’page 245 (time passing)
- ‘trashed her red, angry limbs until she was free...’ page58
Escapism- Runs away to Edinburgh
- After seeing mother, runs away from Edinburgh
The Distance Between Us
Interpretation of surroundings -Sky is grey page6
- The list of countries shows that she wishes to escape her current situation and cannot remain in one place. Page6, 277
-‘ Looming over her.’ Page7/8
- Pulls scarf tight around her neck page5
Relationships- (Jake)-Can feel free with him page270
-still trapped by the past page269
(Nina) – hanging over the cot page39
- Holding her wrist like a bracelet page79
- Sends her letters page246
- Encroaching on her personal relationships page253
- Keeps her in Edinburgh page256
- Sets her free page336
Life vs. Freedom of death-lungs can’t breathe page8
Escapism- page 317, 337, 365
Second Concept- How effectively does O’Farrell’s use of setting highlights the theme of claustrophobia?
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Cauldstone- ‘it is steel, with a coarse cotton cover’ page239
After You’d Gone
Flat- ‘death trap’ page72
‘The front door was always bolted and double locked.’ Page72
London/ tube- ‘a horrible machine, in which you get sucked, dragged down by crowds in escalators...’ page79
Next flat- ‘the house is small’ page86
‘boisterously patterned carpet’ page87
Hospital- ‘The hospital surrounds her on all four sides.’
The Distance Between Us
Childhood – bars on the cot page 39
Family Home- claustrophobic, keeps escaping, page 220, 194
Bed and Breakfast - Hot, clammy. (?) something happened that day??
- Her room is open and bright
Third Concept- How effectively does O’Farrell’s use of narrative style highlight the theme of claustrophobia?
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Examine the use of the memories she seems to drift in and out of about India from the mental unit. There are flereting memories of childhood, almost as if she has had to shut them away. It is very fractured and lacks a cohesive structure which fits in with the character. Iris is used to fill in any gaps.
Imagery-
After You’d Gone
The structure of After You’d Gone is ambitious in its complexity, telling Alice’s story through a mixture of first and third person narratives which move backwards and forwards through the chronology of her life and also the life of her enigmatic mother, Ann. The first and third person interchange can jar at times, making the book seem on occasion like a series of disconnected vignettes. It also makes the book difficult to follow if the reader does not have the luxury of reading large swathes of the book in one sitting. That said, all becomes clear towards the close as the strands of the narrative are drawn together to bring about an ending which is as shocking as it is emotionally hard hitting.
As O’Farrell guides us towards the conclusion of After You’d Gone, pieces of Alice’s jigsaw are carefully revealed, bringing slowly into focus the reasons for her decision to step into the road. As the apparently disconnected strands of her life history come together, O’Farrell explores the sense of devastation wrought by intense personal loss. She also examines the perils of closely guarded family secrets which can detonate unexpectedly in the lives of subsequent generations, with profound consequences.
Imagery- Page 20- hooked image of fish by her mother – (don’t try and do metaphorical and literal meaning of image try and be more subtle)
- ‘Living in a radio’ page26
- ‘Its like living in a cave...’ page133
- ‘A thought can go on and on circling in your mind’ page92
- ‘Exhausting cycles of though’page92
The Distance Between Us
Creates suspense and you can see everything coming together and creates relationship between character's past. The circle of narrative helps O'Farrell bring in the family network and how she can't escape from her sister, Nina. It shows her longing to find roots but also her desire to escape the claustrophobic nature of it all. It shows how Stella can't cope with the conflict and troubles in her life and how she is in search of her own personal nirvana. Also look at how you see a scene through Jake's eyes then the same idea through Stella to create a contrast as he struggles to cope and feels trapped.
Imagery-
ok, ma bad, so i just posted that and all underlines, italics, bold and various fontsizes were lost. if you would prefer a plan with a better setup how would i get that to you?..... hope this is kinda what you were after.
Howie