Character Growth
Controlling to Conciliatory
How did Ruth change throughout the story?
The character that becomes Kathy's emotional focus and love interest.
Who is Tommy?
"'It's too easy,' I said, 'to criticise when you're just driving by'" (228).
No single right answer!
Example: What quote shows a theme of humanity?
Tree Trunks
"I took long strides to the nearest dead tree trunk, where the soil was firmer, and held onto it for balance. Following my example, Tommy and Ruth made their way to another tree trunk, hollow and more emaciated than mine" (224).
No single right answer!
Example: What was the symbolism for the different physical and mental health states of Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth?
Unapproachable "object" to a real, tangible person
How did Madame change in the eyes of Tommy and Kathy?
Kathy and Tommy's motivation for proving their love for each other.
What is the idea of a deferral?
"But something was definitely gone, and [Tommy's drawings] looked laboured, almost like they'd been copied" (241).
No single right answer!
Example: What is a quote that portrays a theme of loss of authenticity and individuality?
Painting of Hailsham in Madame's house
"...a framed picture hanging in a corner over a little round table [...] I could see it was a pretty nice watercolour, but the table lamp beneath it had a crooked shade covered with cobweb traces, and instead of lighting up the picture, it just put a shine over the murky glass, so you could hardly make it out at all" (250).
No single right answer!
Example: What represents Tommy and Kathy's muddled memory of Hailsham and their past?
Resigned to Determined
What was Tommy's attitude to his artistic skills and the idea of deferrals?
The two characters who flip the script and gang up on another character in Chapter 19.
Who are Kathy and Tommy?
"So that feeling came again, even though I tried to keep it out: that we were doing all of this too late; that there'd once been a time for it, but we'd let that by, and there was something ridiculous, reprehensible even, about the way we were now thinking and planning" (241-242).
No single right answer!
Example: What is a quote that illustrates a theme of lost dreams and aspirations/belated hope?
Example 2: What is a quote that illustrates a theme of the passing of time and loss of opportunities?
Madame's Suit
"It was really spooky...because she looked exactly the same....there was no real difference. Same clothes even. That smart grey suit" (243)
No single right answer!
Example: What can represent the unchanging system in their society?
Follower --> Becoming Aware and Choosing their Own Path
The character who behaves in a certain way around Kathy, as represented by this quote: "But when we made a move towards her, she too came forward, and...tucked her shoulders in tightly as she passed between us" (251).
Who is Madame aka Marie-Claude?
"You say you're sure? Sure that you're in love? How can you know it? You think love is so simple? So you are in love. Deeply in love. Is that what you're saying to me?" (251).
No single right answer!
Example: What is a quote that illustrates the theme of love as an uncertain and unstable force that plagues the characters throughout the story?
The Barbed Wire
"Then we came to a barbed wire fence, which was tilted and rusted, the wire itself yanked all over the place. When Ruth saw it, she came to an abrupt halt" (222)
No single right answer!
Example: What represents Ruth's reluctance to face her past?
Potential Keywords: Ruth, reluctance, past, unwillingness, hesitant, barrier, relationship
Strong to weak
The character who confesses to the "worst thing" that she did to the relationship between the other two characters.
Who was Ruth?
"Poor creatures. What did we do to you? With all our schemes and plans?" (254).
No single right answer!
Example: What is a quote that can represent the theme of manipulation present throughout the entire novel?
Example: What is a quote that can represent the theme that true humanity cannot be manufactured or faked?
The Swimming Pool (multiple passages on 218-219)
Ex. Quote to Analyze: "It was only when I saw the photo it occurred to me what the frame was and why it was there, and today, each time I see it, I can't help picturing a swimmer taking a dive off the top only to crash into the cement" (219)
No single right answer!
Example: What can represent Kathy's futile hope for the existence of deferrals?
OR
Example: What can represent the nostalgia and Kathy's longing for the good parts of Hailsham?