Comparative study (N/A) Flashcards
(3 cards)
Discuss the Opening of Small Things Like These
The opening of STLT creates a bleak and pessimistic GV+V. It shows people unhappily enduring the winter weather and going their best to get through the day before the night’s “blades of cold”.
The economic situation of 1980’s Ireland also adds to the gloomy mood. It’s a tiem of deep recession and high immigration: "”leaving for London and Boston, New York. Signs of poverty are everywhere. One morning, Furlong comes across the tragic sight of a schoolboy “drinking the milk out of the cat’s bowl behind the priest’s house”.
Bill’s upbringing also creates a pessimistic view of life in Ireland at the time. Bill is in an usually good social position, he came “from nothing”, or as some say, “Less than nothing”. The illegitimate son of a young mother, Bill was bullied and as an adult is still looked down on. He recalls going to the registery office and the clerk having “an ugly smile” as his father’s name was “unknown”.
Not everything is unremittingly bleak however. We learn Bill is happily married with a loving wife and five bright daughters. Bill feels fortunate and his “deep, private joy” as he thinks of his children lifts the mood of the novel. In bed he remarks to Eileen that “they are the lucky ones”. However Bill is keenly aware that it would be the easiest thing in the world to lose everything”. Overall there are enough ominous signs to prepare us for what’s to come.
Discuss the Opening of Sive.
The opening of Sive quickly establishes a negative GV+V. The setting shows us a world of poverty and hardship. Unlike is STLT, we only get presented with the Glavin household’s living conditions. The primitive lack of water, electricity or fire helps create a bleak view of Ireland at the time.
Our introduction to the characters reinforces this dismal mood. While the prejudice Bill suffers is depressing, the venemous relationship between Nana and Mena is far grimmer. They detest one another and act accordingly. Nanna taunts Mena about her childlessness and her poverty while Mena delights in points out that she is old and powerless.
Whereas Bill’s family situation provides us with some hope, the same can’t be said for the Glavins. Unlike the joy Bill gets when he thinks of his children, Mena feels nothing but resenment and dislike for Sive. She doesn’t see why the girl should have the chances she never had: “Out working with a farmer you should be, my girl”. Mena also publically hates her husband. She tells Nana she could’ve done better than the “amadawn” and that he’s “a man of straw”.
Bill Furlong was bullied by schoolmates and townspeople, but Sive has to endure jibes in her own home. Mena irritated by Sive’s “high notions”, tells her she will come to “no good”. It’s shown Nana and Mike do genuinely care for Sive, but neither are a match for Mena’s brutal manipulation. In the novel, Bill’s home is a source of comfort to him, however in the play Sive’s home promises nothing but bleakness and despair for her.
Discuss the Opening of The Shawshank Redemption.
