The earrings being found - mom is innocent The son respects his mother The two chose to keep their restored pride and dignity
False accusation Mother’s job considered to be menial Lack of understanding between the mother and son Tone throughout the poem
Mother and son relationship Clash between their thoughts Theme of class conflict Mother’s pride and dignity which reflects her character Son’s internal conflict Mother’s internal conflicts
Proven to be innocent Values her pride Motherly nature
Finds peace in the graveyard amongst the dead Her own body fighting against her - old age She is alone - no one to help her through this difficult phase
Finds peace in the graveyard amongst the dead Setting - both the house and graveyard depict how lonely she is She has to plan everything properly to avoid any struggle + she is old - create pity for her
Lonely Struggle Conflict with body Generational conflict Free direct speech + rushed sentences
Lonely Fighting her own body Vigorous movement and actions shown by the woman in an attempt to get out Feared that she would die here Various stylistic features in the scene that make it disturbing Effective use of free direct and indirect speech
Organised Is old which is why she has to face multiple difficulties Lonely Daunting / courageous Afraid
Oppressed by pakehas - change brought because of them : helpless Loss of culture and land No control over the occurring situation
juxtaposed reflections of the past and the present depict the old man’s disapprobation towards these changes. The old man’s condemnation of the present-day society is accentuated through his meeting with the government official.
People think he is weak - telling things twice, forced to make the journey alone to prove that he is not so Losing his land, culture No control over his conversation with Paul Free indirect speech
What each of them did to the land Value of land in their perspective Difference in attitude towards the land has caused a conflict between the new and traditional ways Maoris appreciated the pakehas effort Conflict between Maori and pakehas
‘Filled with admiration’ and appreciation for the change/development done by the pakehas Concerned about the youth and their lost connection with their identity Constantly thinking about his land Thoughts of the destruction brought by the pakehas on the native Maori traditions are constantly revolving in his mind He is thinking about his age and how he doesn’t want to be treated as old Seen to be obsessing over various words and thoughts which are reflective of his character
Son and uncle mocking the father No. of people coming to meet the father shocks the society Irony in the father looking for perfection when he himself is not perfect Depicts the different relations in the story
Father escaping mrs mccabe in fear of death - impact death can have on people Parallelism between the stoat story and the lives of the characters Unable to accept death
unnamed narrator who comments and provides essential details on character reflections, setting and plot. key symbol of the stoat and the rabbit is majorly explored through the behaviour of the characters and their actions McGahem compares the father’s selfish and predatory motives to the stoat’s animalistic behaviour. human displacement portrays the rabbit as the son who is wanted by the father and the uncle view the son as the stoat due to his personality. The symbol reminds the readers about the sheer ruthlessness of life and how we all have the animalise trait that lurks around. explores the existential problem in finding a meaning for life
Cold sarcastic manner in which the son mocks his father’s will to marry The ease with which son communicates with uncle highlights the distance he has with his father. Parallelism - father giving up on miss mccabe expands distance between father and son
He was a naive child, the act conducted was because as a child he did not understand. Character development - not knowing about relations to understanding them after his mistake Their close relation was lost and he saw his aunt dying
Curious nature of the child Close relation with his aunt Secretive nature of the aunt Regret the boy feels regarding her death, which creates suspense in the readers
signifies the guilt that the protagonist is engulfed by, such that he remembers his actions years later. accentuating the eminent themes in the story. theme of struggle create a stark contrast between the relationship between the protagonist and his Aunt in the flashback and in the present.
Harsh conditions he has to face His love for Mary He remembers the happy moments he spent with her War has filled him with anger Decided to uptake a religious path of life
Suppressed by racial discrimination - what he did was actually right Getting Physically abused - no one to help him The men are hurting his pride and dignity Uncertainty regarding the future
Constantly being oppressed by the whites - not treated equally No one to raise their voice and help them during physical and mental abuse Setting + atmosphere
The various sounds The men taking the black man away, yet not disclosing the actual intention, we only know that it is going to be bad Emotions of the black man Men abusing the black man, both physically and mentally
Technology moving on their own creates surprise Images in the extract create a dramatic effect Disregard for any other being - house in complete control Tasks being done so methodically and with such perfection is an eerie yet admirable
Nature > man Fire ruthlessly taking over the entire house House struggling to fight + chaos Dying a slow death shows that no matter what nature will continue
Self-destruction is persistently insinuated in the story Nature is portrayed as a paramount entity in this story
Power of nature House struggling to fight the fire Even artificial objects in the nursery seemed to have been brought to life in order to flee the fire Slow death of the house Victory of nature
Mr Grancy moved away as soon as he recognised the feelings between Clayton and his wife - control over situation Claydon having control over Grancy by manipulating the painting Mr Grancy wanted the painting changed so he could control his wife aging with him
theme of entrapment Painting’s extensive influence on Grancy’s destiny Obsession
Mr grancy is naive Suffocating first marriage Lost his second wife even before she died Claydon loved a woman he could never be his Claydon having to repaint the painting he loved multiple times against his will Both men were wrapped around Mrs Grancy’s finger
Change in Ralph after death of second wife Locked away in his house Cause of his death - believing the painting Clayton changed the picture
The painting was infused with life Conflict between grancy love vs Claydon’s love - being the cause of grancy’s death Claydon’s obsession Theme of control and manipulation |
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