First Death in Nova Scotia Flashcards
(13 cards)
Repetition. Memory. Quite a sad image. Pathetic fallacy
In the cold, cold parlor
my mother laid out Arthur
Quite cold, harsh words depicting the stuffed bird. Sibilance & repetition. Not complicated, childish language.
on the table
stood a stuffed loon
shot and stuffed by Uncle
Arthur
Referring to the loon. Illustrates innocence of children and how they don’t quite understand death. Personification of the dead bird.
he hadn’t spoken a word
Alliteration and contrast of colour. Cold imagery of this dead loon. Harsh sounding words depicting the harsh reality of death. The red of its death seem to taint the white of its breast. Metaphor for death of Arthur
His breast was deep and white,
cold and caressable;
his eye were red glass
Mother beckoning Bishop over to say a final goodbye to her cousin. Sad, simplistic terms used that a child can understand
“Come and say good-bye
to your little cousin Arthur”
A bell shaped white flower. Perhaps a metaphor for Bishop’s childhood innocence
one lily of the valley
A poignant scene with childlike imagery. Description of Arthur’s coffin. A metaphor describing it as a cake.
Arthur’s coffin was
a little frosted cake
Personification of the dead loon again. It seems quite menacing as it peers at the coffin. Almost as if welcoming Arthur to death alongside it. Cold imagery surrounding it
the red-eyed loon eyed it
from his white, frozen lake.
Simile. Bishop describing Arthur’s body. Still using childish imagery with an air of innocence and coldness for the situation. He no longer looked living
He was all white, like a doll
that hadn’t been painted yet.
The cold grip of death had taken hold of Arthur, depicted by the tale of Jack Frost.
Jack Frost had started to paint him
Although Bishop can’t quite comprehend what death is or why it possibly happened, she does understand it to an extent. She understands that it is a state of permanence and that Arthur will not be coming back. Punctuation accentuates the permanence
Jack Frost had dropped the brush
and left him white, forever
The royal couples that were hanging on the wall seem to be welcoming Arthur. They could possibly be dead royals, or it could possibly be a metaphor for Arthur’s picture also being placed on the wall
They invited Arthur to be
the smallest page at court
A sinister ending as Bishop cannot totally understand the loss. Innocence is quite moving as you get an understanding of a child’s ideas of death. Feel sympathy for young Bishop
But how could Arthur go,
clutching his tiny lily,
with his eyes shut up so tight
and the roads deep in snow?
