John Boynton Priestley, OM (13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984), known as J.B. Priestley, was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 27 novels. Angel Pavement is his novel, published in 1930, it established him as a successful novelist. It is a social panorama of the city of London, seen largely through the eyes of the employees of the firm Twigg & Dersingham, on the first floor of No. 8, Angel Pavement. One of the problems raised in the novel is the problem of upbringing. The plot of the extract revolves around Mr. Smeeth and his speculations about his own family. The central idea of the extract is misunderstanding between two generations. The author’s message is that many parents could not understand either …show more content…
Her being at home is characterized by such epithets as “languid and complaining, shrill and resentful, or sullen and tearful” thus making us understand that she was, as the author said in “a very silly, awkward age”. But the situation changed abruptly when she receives a call from her friends, by the simile “This contrast, as sharp as a sword” the author states that her behavior at home and among her friends was very different. She was not interested in the life of her family, instead, being with her friends she “sprang into a vivid personal life of her own, became eager and vivacious”. These numerous epithets reflect her young and hoity-toity nature. The next paragraph is devoted to the son of Mr. Smeeth – George, who is older than Edna, she is 17 and he is 20. The age gives us a hint that he is probably set his life priorities and somehow more confident in his point of view to his own life. But that is only partially so, according to the author: “He had no desire to stick to anything, to serve somebody faithfully, to work himself steadily up to a good safe position”. So George just tried one thing after another, selling wireless sets, helping some pal in a garage, but his father believed that even working hard he could not get any positive promotion or results. “The point was, that to George, there was nothing wrong, and his father was well aware of the fact that he could not make him see there was anything wrong. That was the trouble with both his children.”-
In Martina McBride’s Concrete Angel, we have the story of a young girl who is being abused by her mother. According to McBride, this is a true story based on her niece who was abused by her mother (McBride’s sister) and killed at the young age of 7. Child Abuse in recent years has been overshadowed by minor issues in today’s society. But the issue still exists; the sad thing is that these abusers are admitting they hurt children or even their own child and they have no remorse for it. It appears child abuse has gotten worse over the years but it is being ignored and no one talks about it anymore. In 2008 when the song Concrete Angel was released the writers of the song Rob Crosby and Stephanie Bently wanted to really go in depth with the lyrics of the song because at the time child abuse had been spreading all over the world. McBride, the producer, and performer also had a connection to this song because it tells of a personal experience she’s had with her family.
When she enters the bedroom, her voice changes from present to past tense and she starts to reminisce and begins to talk about her mother and aunts. She seems happy to remember her mother’s room and introduces her aunts to the audiences. Mary delivers her dialogue saying that the dressing table and the small elephant statue figures are all same. When Mary gently touches her mother’s photo, she delivers a sad tone. Her performance conveys to the audiences that she misses her mother. The tone of her voice represents that she is a gentle, innocent and a loving child. Her verbal and non-verbal interactions conveyed the viewers with a message that she is an orphan.
In "A Sorrowful Woman" the wife is depressed with her life, so much so, "The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again"(p.1). This wife and mother has come to detest her life, the sight of her family,
The reader is almost forced to look at the actions of the grandmother as being similar to that of a young child. There's not a quiet moment with her around and she never sits still. The reader tends to have a negative perception of the grandmother due to these personality traits. However, these traits are expressed in a comical way causing the reader to be annoyed by the grandmother, but also entertained.
The heroine, Mrs. P, has some carries some characteristics parallel to Louise Mallard in “Hour.” The women of her time are limited by cultural convention. Yet, Mrs. P, (like Louise) begins to experience a new freedom of imagination, a zest for life , in the immediate absence of her husband. She realizes, through interior monologues, that she has been held back, that her station in life cannot and will not afford her the kind of freedom to explore freely and openly the emotions that are as much a part of her as they are not a part of Leonce. Here is a primary irony.
Her story of being “bundled along from farm to farm” evokes sympathy in not just the characters in the play but also the readers of the novel. According to Kent Agnes had been at many farms throughout her life either as a foster child “left to the mercy of the paupers” or as a work maid in the house. We as the readers are positioned to feel sympathy for Agnes being moved from house to house allowing no stability in what was her very short childhood. The audience is positioned to feel a sense of outrage as Agnes is left by her mother when she was five with nothing more than a stone to “talk to the birds”. Agnes conveys to Toti that the only happy memories of her childhood was where she found a “better family” at Kornsa which is ironically where she is sent to spend her final months before her execution. The fact that Agnes “no longer loved” her biological family was symbolic of her moving past her childhood toward adulthood at a very early age. As Agnes reflects on her past she notes how she is “quite alone” which evokes sympathy in the reader who feels that she “doesn’t have a friend in the world”. Agnes tells of the traumatic ordeal she went through in losing her foster mother Inga during childbirth. After this Agnes was then fostered out again and put on her journey hopping from farm to farm. It is this unstable and very brief childhood that allows
The other reading of the story might be based on the maturing of a young woman. As it is probably the most important period in every adolescent's life, when they keep searching for their own identity, it should by strongly influenced by their parents. If it is not, a teenager starts looking for directions outside their home, and sometimes has difficulties with distinguishing what is good and evil. They are very often affected by
She is a person that took every day as it came to her and did what was necessary in order for her to survive. There was no shame in her trying to obtain happiness by keeping her cousin as a lover, nor killing an unborn child to keep herself from being punished. She is attempting to open the eyes of a naive priest who sees nothing but what he has learned from books.
Michael Cunningham’s “White Angel” gives the reader a fascinating look into the life of Carlton Marrow, a teenage boy doomed to die in the mid nineteen-sixties, as told by his younger brother Frisco. From the very beginning the reader is aware that they reading Carlton’s final days, saying,”Here is Carlton several months before his death.” This sentence could be taken out of the story entirely and one could still predict Carlton would die within its pages. Firstly, Cunningham skillfully places ominous details leading up to the climax, such as, “It happened like this,” which causes the reader to question what ‘it’ is. Also it is apparent that although Carlton is being a typical teenage boy, one may observe that he is, indeed, a few years ahead of his time. “His eyes are bright as neon. Something in them tells me he can see the future, a ghost that hovers over everyone’s head.” (Cunningham 231). He is right at the front of the psychedelic revolution, taking hits of acid in the presence of his mother, smoking weed, and drinking secretly in the cemetery behind his house from which the name “White angel” is adapted.
On her short home visit she was able to see the different between her formal life and her new life. She was struggling to pay rent because her jobs didn’t pay her enough. In previous life she was only concern about writing and she did have to worry about rent money or finding a job.
The narrator is totally crushed by the gender discrimination. She longed to be seen by her mother and her grandma. The narrator is heartbroken that her mother loved her brother more than her and failed to notice her. “When she went into Nonso’s room to say good night, she always came out laughing that laugh. Most times, you pressed your palms to your ears to keep the sound out, and kept your palms pressed to your ears, even when she came into your room to say Good night, darling, sleep well. She never left your room with that laugh” (190). Her agony can be easily seen by the way of her narrating. She does not get the affection that she deserves. She really needs the affection from her own mother, but she is not getting it. She compares the love which her mother shows to his brother and herself. This is gender discrimination can be seen with her grandmother too. She hated her grandma as she would always support her brother and find fault with her. Even though what the brother did, no matter what crime. Her mother and grandmother always supported her brother and never supported or showed interest towards
Young but driven, Olive becomes open to reality that their is so much more for her to see and be apart outside of her guarded father’s embrace, this comes to light when she falls in love with a man of different views than her father. Olive’s relationship with Father grew to a different level when Mother died. Olive “used to be very proud of being the lady of the house” (Rich 201) playing the role as mother of the house. Being the oldest of the sister 's it was Olive’s role to step up. Father would look at Olive across the table and say “every day you remind me more of your mother” (Rich 201). Olive has never had trouble making friends. Olive is more social, especially with men. When summer came “Olive began walking out with young men” (Rich 202). Olive allowed other men into her life, though she knew after awhile that they were all “silly and shallow” (Rich 202) after she brought them home to meet Father.
As the story progresses the reader is told that George has to work the fields because he’s the oldest, while his younger brothers and sisters get to go to school and learn to read and write. George lives a life of working very hard and getting paid very little but his motto is:
As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist. Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be. She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170). However, in a time
She is so naïve and adolescent that she leaves her worldly activities and gets ready to go out and spend time with her boyfriend. She gives him her possessions: her “labor” and “leisure” too (l. 7) for his politeness.