Name that theme
What theme is explored through the mother’s obsession with sending the perfect family photo overseas?
The need for external validation and the pressure to present an ideal image.
"Five dollars for those scones"
Chris' mother
Chris regularly stayed at his mothers house overnight to keep her company.
False - He didn't like her.
Symbol: The family photo in Whirlpool
Question: What does the idealised family photo symbolise in the story?
It symbolises the pressure to maintain appearances, denial of deeper family dysfunction, and the mother’s need for validation.
What theme does the father in LAHOF feeling useless and emasculated, struggling with not being the provider or helper anymore best relate to?
Identity
"Get a telling-off did ya, just for talking to an old man?"
Mr Moreton
Chris' partner Scott died, leaving him grieving the loss.
False, he just left...
What does the bathtub sybolise in Laminex and Mirrors?
The bathtub in Laminex and Mirrors symbolises vulnerability, dignity, and compassion.
Specifically:
Vulnerability: The elderly man being bathed is in his most exposed and dependent state. The bathtub becomes a space where his physical frailty and need for help are undeniable.
Dignity: Despite the clinical setting, the narrator treats him with care and respect. The bathtub becomes a symbol of preserving his dignity in a system that otherwise strips it away.
Compassion and moral awakening: For the narrator, the act of helping with the bath marks a turning point. It shifts her from passive detachment to emotional engagement. The bathtub, then, symbolises her moral and emotional growth, as she realises that true care involves intimacy, patience, and empathy.
What themes does this link to?
"There isn’t a single shot, she added, where we don’t all look dreadful."
Whirlpool – Identity, Relationships
"My parents gave me this for my twenty first"
The Narrator/Scholar
The father in LAHOF was recovering from back surgery. True or False?
False
What does the back injury in LAHOF symbolise?
Loss of control, emasculation, and disconnection from the family unit.
How does Ashes explore emotional adversity between father and son?
Through their inability to express emotion and connect, causing inner conflict and resentment.
"Big smiles now, girls!"
The photographer
The narrator was fired for taking Mr Moreton outside
False! Probably, but we don't know for sure as it isn't in the text
What does the whirlpool symbolise?
Emotional turbulence and being pulled under the surface of family expectations.
How does Kennedy portray adversity as both internal and external in her stories?
Characters face physical, emotional, and social hardships, often silently, revealing how adversity shapes their identities and relationships.
"Dad! Wait! What about the remote?"
Sam
The father was not present at all in the original "dreadful" photos in whirlpool
False - he was a shadowy peripheral figure
the _____ symbolises freedom and autonomy, away from the mother’s controlling nature and judgemental remarks.
The Pool