Originally Flashcards
We came from ‘our own’ country
This shows that she is possessive and has ownership over Scotland
as the miles rushed back to the city, the street, the house, the vacant rooms where we didn’t live anymore’
This shows the backwards journey that she is making in her head, remembering sadly where she came from
I stared at the eyes of a blind toy, holding its paw
She is trying to find comfort in something familiar to her but the teddy is ‘blind’ and cannot help her know where she is going
All childhood is an emigration
Growing up has stages to go through, too, which are full of change
Leaving you standing, resigned, up an avenue where no one you know stays
She has to accept that she is away from home
Others are sudden. Your accent is wrong
The short sentences emphasise the shock of the change and how she doesn’t fit in
My parent’s anxiety stirred like a loose tooth in my head
This simile shows the nagging worry that her parents feel about her
I want our own country
She is almost begging to have back what’s hers, Scotland
But then you forget, or don’t recall, or change
Saying ‘or’ twice shows that she doesn’t know when she actually started to change and fit in
feel only a ‘skelf’ of shame
Scots dialect (scottish language) shows her guilt in fitting in
I remember my tongue shedding its skin like a snake
This simile shows her changing and coming out unharmed from the process
I hesitate
These are her last words and they emphasise how she is unsure where she belongs because she had fitted in to england but she is still attached to Scotland, where she is from
