The Boat, Madame and No Deferrals Flashcard

Question 1

‘the boat sitting _______ under the marches under the weak sun’ (page 220)

Answer 1

beached

Question 2

‘the boat sitting beached under the marches under the _________ sun’ (page 220)

Answer 2

weak

Question 3

How is it symbolic that the boat is ‘beached under the marches’ (page 220)

Answer 3

The boat is symbolic of the clones’ fate - they too are ‘beached’ or stranded as they have no freedom or hope.

Question 4

What technique is used here - ‘the boat…under the weak sun’ (page 220)

Answer 4

pathetic fallacy

Question 5

What is the significance of the pathetic fallacy - ‘the boat…under the weak sun’ (page 220)

Answer 5

This symbolises the impending fate of the clones; their lives, which were once seemingly full of possibility, are now without hope.

Question 6

What is the semantic field used here: ‘ghostly dead trunks’/’the weak sun’/’the tree trunk hollow and more emaciated’ (page 220)?

Answer 6

Semantic field of death and decay - symbolic of the clones’ impending fate.

Question 7

‘it had once been painted a sky blue but now looked almost _________’ (page 220)

Answer 7

white

Question 8

What technique is used here: ‘it had once been painted a sky blue but now looked almost white’ (page 220)?

Answer 8

colour imagery

Question 9

What is the significance of the colour imagery used here: ‘it had once been painted a sky blue but now looked almost white’ (page 220)?

Answer 9

This description of the boat shows how the clones’ lives, which were once full of hope (‘sky blue’), are now defined by a sense of emptiness (‘white’)

Question 10

What is the symbolic importance of the boat being stranded in ‘marshland’?

Answer 10

Marshland is neither land, not the sea. This represents the limbo of the clones - they desire human lives but are not truly seen by society as human.

Question 11

What is being described here: ‘it? had once been painted a sky blue but now looked almost white’ (page 220)?

Answer 11

The boat

Question 12

‘she spun round like I’d _________ something at her’ (page 243)

Answer 12

thrown

Question 13

Who is being described here? ‘she spun round like I’d thrown something at her’ (page 243)

Answer 13

Madame - when she is reunited with Tommy and Kathy.

Question 14

‘you could see her stiffen - as if a pair of large _________ was set to crawl towards her’ (page 243)

Answer 14

spiders

Question 15

Which metaphor is repeated that shows how Madame sees the clones as inhuman and frightening?

Answer 15

Spiders. ‘she was afraid of us in the same way someone might be afraid of spiders’ (page 35) ‘you could see her stiffen - as if a pair of large spiders was set to crawl towards her’ (page 243)

Question 16

[she] tucked her _______ in tightly as she passed between us’ (page 246)

Answer 16

shoulders

Question 17

Who is described here? [she] tucked her shoulders in tightly as she passed between us’ (page 246)

Answer 17

Madame - Ishiguro suggests she doesn’t want to touch the clones as she sees them as inhuman and ‘other’

Question 18

‘Poor __________. What did we do to you?’ (page 249)

Answer 18

creatures

Question 19

What is the name of the transgressive scientist who wanted to ‘offer people the possibility of having children with enhanced characteristics’ (page 258)

Answer 19

James Morningdale

Question 20

‘like she was seeing something that gave her the _______’ (page 71)

Answer 20

creeps

Question 21

Who is described here: ‘like she was seeing something that gave her the creeps’ (page 71)?

Answer 21

Madame

Question 22

‘the figure in the wheelchair was ________ and contorted’ (page 250)

Answer 22

frail

Question 23

In what ways does Ishiguro build some sense of sympathy for Madame and Miss Emily?

Answer 23

Miss Emily now has to use a wheelchair and is described as ‘frail’ (page 250). Additionally, both she and Madame have a ‘mountain of debt’ (page 260)

Question 24

In the final part of the novel, Miss Emily refers to Kathy and Tommy as being ‘lucky ____________’

Answer 24

pawns

Question 25

Why does Ishiguro have Miss Emily refer to Tommy and Kathy as ‘lucky pawns’?

Answer 25

This metaphor is used to show how Miss Emily thinks they should be grateful for what they got to experience at Hailham. However, she fails to properly see how they have been treated as disposable and sacrificed for a greater good.

Question 26

Both Madame and Miss Emily refer to Kathy and Tommy as ‘poor creatures’. Why?

Answer 26

Ishiguro suggests that, although they feel sympathy for Kathy and Tommy, they also perceive them as ‘other’ and inhuman.

Question 27

How does James Morningdale - a scientist working in a ‘remote part of Scotland’ (page 258) - link to a context idea of the time?

Answer 27

Dolly the Sheep was cloned by scientists in Scotland in 1997.

Question 28

What is the symbolic importance of the bedside cabinet, a ‘beautiful object’ that Miss Emily had at Hailsham, but now has to sell.

Answer 28

The bedside cabinet symbolises Hailsham itself - something precious and lovely that Miss Emily now has to let go.