Summary
Family and Friends is Anita Brookner's fifth novel, first published in 1985. This wonderful work tells the story of an upper-class widow and her four children, describing the relationship among them and with the people around them throughout their mother's life, who is, in some way, the glue that holds them together. The book is set mainly in London, but as some of the characters move, it changes settings to Paris, New York, Hollywood, etc. The characters' personalities and feelings are also as changing, but at the same time their traits remain the same.
Commentary
The book begins with the narrator looking at a wedding photograph, in which Sofka, the widow, has such a strong presence that the narrator initially fails to notice the bride and groom. Through the description of this picture all the main characters are introduced. The narrator starts as a first person narrator, who seems to know very well the family and their personalities, and who makes deductions of what might have happened or what they might be thinking at that moment. It is very interesting how this first person narrator subtly fades, with the reader almost not noticing, and turns into a third person narrator as the story shifts from the present, when the narrator is looking at the picture, to the past, when the events actually happened. Here the narrator is no longer making assumptions, but knows exactly what happened and what the characters' feelings were. This resource (the narrator looking at wedding pictures and describing the thoughts and feelings of each member of the family according to the stage of their lives they were at) is repeatedly used in the novel, as the family celebrates the different marriages. As with the first picture, the narrator shifts again to the first person and to the present while talking about the photograph, although each time the change is subtler.
The way the author plays with time is simply fascinating. Sometimes events are described in a very detailed way, minute by minute, while in other occasions things happen so fast that several years pass as you go from one paragraph to the next. This means that the reader is compelled to be very alert in order to follow the chronological order of the events. Together with this, the author also takes the characters from planning or wishing to be doing something to actually performing it, all in the same sentence, moving forwards in time with the reader almost not realising this has happened.
Galchen creates the character of her narrator to be very similar to that of the young narrator in “Araby” in a modern setting. In their youth, each narrator becomes infatuated and obsessed with someone who does not realize. The narrator of “Araby” falls in love with his friend Mangan’s sister, as seen in that he states that “when she came out on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (123). He forms an obsession with her, as evidenced by the fact that he “had never spoken to her . . . and yet her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” and in that “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance” (123).
Today 's generation have changed many ways since the beginning of the century. In “The American Family”, Stephanie Coontz discusses many situations that has occurred during the beginning of the 21st century and suggested solutions to solve those issues in the future. For instance, she argued that women are being treated unfairly, family are not discussing their problems openly, and institutions need to change to fit the families’ requirement. In “Complexity of Family Life among the Low-Income and Working Poor” Patricia Hyjer Dyk, argued that women still doesn’t have enough choices, low income families doesn’t have enough jobs, and Government are not helping many families. Dyk’s review of the scholarly research on low-income families support Coontz’ evaluations of the problems faced by 21st century families and the solutions Coontz recommends, like improving women 's lifestyle, discussing problems openly, improving institutions and changing institutions so it can to fit to fulfil families need. .
“When we had first seen the apartment, I created stories in my head of The relationship we’d establish with our cohabitants.” (Schmitt 128). This she found to be strictly imagined shortly after moving. Schmitt took in many considerations as to why she could not form a relationship with her neighbors and she pulled the reader in with how persistent she was to wanting to have a connection with the different people around her. Schmitt told details of the ceremony. The emotions of the reader is tied when she attends the funeral of the old man. “ She wailed, her voice broke, and then she repeated it, “Baba, Baba.” In the front row, her three sisters joined the chorus.” (Schmitt 130) , this shows the loss of someone who was clearly loved by many. Schmitt mentions that this drags her emotions in as well (Schmitt 130), she made the grandfather a part of her own feelings and put into perspective how hard it is to lose someone. This also connects emotion to the reader because it helps the reader connect to the story. Everyone has lost someone and putting in her input and not just the input of the chinese really makes a connection with one who is reading. By the end of the story Schmitt ends up making friendships finally with the people around her. She explains everything that she begins doing with her
And the gaps in the plot? Why did Hesse sometimes dwell for pages on one small point in time and then suddenly transport the reader ten years into the future? Could he not think of anything to write?
The “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and ‘”The Hand” by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette are similar in theme and setting. Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette and Kate Chopin create the theme of obligatory love and the unhappiness it entails. Both stories illustrate the concealed emotions many women feel in their marriage yet fail to express them. The two stories take place in a sacred room of the house and both transpire in a brief amount of time. The differences between the two stories are seen through the author’s choice of characters in each story. In “The story of an Hour” Kate Chopin involves other characters in Mrs. Mallard’s life, whereas, “The Hand” deals with marriage and togetherness and only involves the husband and wife. Symbolism is seen all throughout “The Hand” not so in ‘The Story of an Hour.” The similarities in “The Story of an Hour” and “The Hand” is portrayed in theme and setting. The differences are illustrated in the choice of characters involved in each story and the amount of symbolism depicted in the different stories.
The narrator is confined to a room with strange wall-paper. This odd wall-paper seems to symbolize the complexity and confusion in her life. In “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard must also deal with conflict as she must deal with the death of her spouse. At first there is grief, but then there is the recognition that she will be free. The institute of marriage ties the two women of these two short stories together. Like typical young women of the late 19th century, they were married, and during the course of their lives, they were expected to stay married. Unlike today where divorce is commonplace, marriage was a very holy bond and divorce was taboo. This tight bond of marriage caused tension in these two characters. Their personal freedom was severely restricted. For Mrs. Mallard, marriage was a curse to be reckoned with. She knew inside that her marriage was wrong, but she could not express her feelings openly. Her husband was not a bad man, but he was in the way. After hearing about her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard comments, “now there would be no powerful will bending her in that blind persistence with which men … believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow creature” (Chopin 72), Her husband definitely was a thorn in her
Another way the author develops his consistent style is in the way he describes certain images. For example, there are a few different occasions where his way of describing what he sees around him are similar to eachother in a way that they all make reference to the fact that the day is going by and it will soon reach dusk. Like when he said 'the soft dew of morning which had glistened and twinkled on the blades of grass which grew in clumps by the side of road quietly disappeared.'; This indicates that the day is going on. At another point in the story the author makes reference to the shadows saying that they have grown longer, which would indicate the sun was setting. Also, the author never exactly comes right out and says the obvious. He uses his descriptive ways to give you an idea of what is going on or happening. For example, he never exactly says that the man he encounters on the road is an old man. He just gives certain physical characteristics that would associate with an old man. I feel his reasoning for this was to also indicate that this man was not just old but a man of wisdom, which very often is associated with old age.
While reading “The Ordinary Life” by Barbara Crooker, one is able to understand the dramatic irony of the poem and the irony of her ordinary day being rather interesting. In the first line, Crooker states that nothing happened that day, however she later goes on to contradict herself. When reading the poem, one can see her describe a day full of activities, such as: cleaning the cupboards, taking care of her baby, making dinner for her family, and a few other pastimes. Additionally, Crooker uses strong descriptive language to illustrate what the mother sees as an unremarkable day. For instance, “[...] sat in a circle of sunlight,” (line 9) and “[...] a long slow kiss, tasting of coffee and cream,” (lines 26-27) show the depth of her awareness
Right from the moment Louise Mallard hears of her husband's death, Kate Chopin dives into a her vivid use of imagery. “When the storm of grief has spent itself” introduces a weather oriented theme (para.3). This imagery depicts a violent and dark setting that denotes death and grief. Her reaction to her husband's death ideally what society would expect. Her acute reaction instantly shows that she is an emotional, demonstrative woman. Even tho...
The imagery portrayed in the first half of the story is solemn, melancholy and grim depicting the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, is effortlessly flabbergasted at the harsh news of her husband, Brently Mallard’s disastrous death. In hearing the news of Brently’s premature death, Mrs. Mallard immediately accepts his death and is overcome with grief and leaves to her room unaccompanied. It is in her room, which she peers through the window contemplating on the recent news that she has received, when there is an overall shift to the
The main event is the death of the child, which has happened previously to the beginning of the poem. This event foreshadows the death of the marriage which will happen after the poem. The husband and wife go through the grief process in many different ways. The wife believes that her husband does not understand her or the grief in which she feels. Online 10, she shouts at him, “You couldn't care!...
The second person point of view helps the reader to connect with the girl in this story. It shows the reader a better understanding of this character and how she is being raised to be a respectable woman. This point of view also gives us an insight on the life of women and shows us how they fit into their society. Through this point of view, the reader can also identify the important aspects of the social class and culture. The daughter tries to assert a sense of selfhood by replying to the mother but it is visible that the mother is being over whelming and constraining her daughter to prepare her for
In this story the narrator focuses on how Mrs. Mallard copes with the death of her husband. The plot defines to the reader what happens in a story by how she reacts to the news of her husband just being killed in a train accident. Looking deeper into this story the theme shows you her underlying feelings demonstration of the impression behind the story by showing almost relief and freedom, through the utilization of different symbols and tones. On the surface you see details such as the phrase “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same” (Clugston, 2010, sec 2.1). This phrase sets a tone of sadness and question of why she took the news so differently than many other women.
The novel progresses at rapid rate and the irregular pace can be likened to that of a drug addiction novel. As if the author himself in select chapters in the book has decided to 'shoot up on smack' before typing away on his keyboard. The other way the n...
There are many differences between friends and family, such as whether the relationship will change, what kind of relationships they have and if they live together or not. Each parts show the essential differences between them.