Browsed by
Author: srini92577@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

THE MUSICAL REVUE SHOWCASE: OCTOBER 2020 – FEB 2021 CAS Reflection

THE MUSICAL REVUE SHOWCASE: OCTOBER 2020 – FEB 2021 CAS Reflection

OCTOBER 2020 – DECEMBER 2020 REFLECTION

In October 2020, I auditioned for the Musical Revue Showcase that was being hosted at East which would be a complication of the past 8 years of musical showcases in 40 minutes snippets. After auditioning, I was given the opportunity to play Young Jane in Jane Eyre.

The rehearsals that followed involved blocking and learning songs and scenes with COVID-19 regulations in preparation for the show. Pictures from the rehearsals are as seen below:

What I learnt during the preparation phase:

  • Apart from learning lines, choreography and scenes, I learnt how to be creative with the space on stage considering COVID regulations and finding new ways to modify scenes to fit the type of showcase we were placing.
  • Supporting roles: as a member of cast in several scenes, preparing for the musical taught me how to better support the lead actors in their scenes, such as being proactive in moving parts of the set, or interacting with them when they need support on stage.
  • Getting comfortable performing in front of a larger group of people as I usually stay within the comfort zone of singing and haven’t had much experience with dancing.

DECEMBER 2020 – FEB 2021

As rehearsals continued, we started performing larger run throughs as we were coming close to the final performance.

  • Time management: This was a challenge I faced in this phase of the preparation, since coursework started becoming more intense, balancing time between all-day weekend rehearsals, after-school rehearsals and schoolwork was a little hectic.
  • Work-Activity Balance: There were times where I wondered whether I was using my time in the most useful way but it was a good lesson in not compromising on activities and passions for the sole purpose of work – everything will get done in time alongside passions if you are not overcommitted!
  • Bonding: This phase was also a cherish-able time when I was able to spend more time alongside cast members and form connections as part of the CAS experience.

Pictures from the final performance:

Overall, this was one of the most memorable parts of my Grade 12 experience that taught me a lot about commitment to a project and balance that I have gained a lot of experience from.

Bang My Car: Pastiche, Parody, Satire, Irony

Bang My Car: Pastiche, Parody, Satire, Irony

1, Consider this statement in the introduction by Dave Chua: “In Imaginary Geographies of the Singapore Heartland, she explores the Singaporean landscape through a survey where she reveals more depth than immediately apparent.” Focusing on the transcript parts of this sections (Parts B and C), identify two examples of that depth…i.e. more than just a humorous representation of the rascally uncle character

Part B: Under the premise of discussing which locality in Singapore has better food/accommodation, he ends up revealing more about what he values in people and in his own life:

  • When talking about the ‘lorong’s’ he says that “unless you know the people, they treat you like dirt” –> a general social commentary on, perhaps, the exclusivity of people in Singapore
  • “Sometimes don’t need to see people, sometimes don’t need to see their face, is good” –> His appreciation of solitude or getting away from society in a place where people are all you see.
  • “I think the people in the east are too proud.. they are all too rich” –> social attitudes towards wealth; rather than it seeming like a proud aspiration wealth is considered a degradation of character.
  • “Sometimes I look at the jungle opposite, the lallang, the temple the other side, I feel like my heart like… not so good … I know I always got some place to go” –> the uncle lets down his humorous facade by saying that, he himself, feels low too and relies on the uncomplicated, un-urban things in his life to make him okay. Saying that he always has a place to go in nature implies that people of his generation may feel lost in the hyper-urbanised new Singapore. There is an irony in his generation when he has seen the hope in Singapore’s modernisation but resists it as well.

Part C: The uncle shows the ‘vices’ his family members are suffering from currently, and reveals how he rejects the need to seem classy or elegant for a more raw and natural appreciation of life, without a facade of needing wealth or success.

  • This is especially apparent when the uncle discusses his daughter in law, when he says that the mother ‘listens to everything that is ang-moh’ and ‘wears too many nice clothes and sits in the air-conditioned office for too long’ which implies that ‘everything being so good’ artificially in her life means that so everywhere else things are “not as good, so got big problem”. Here the uncle reveals how he views the rat race that humans tend to subjugate themselves to is superficially ‘good’ for growth but leaves human society with larger problems, wherein there is no introspection.
  • We are also given more of a sense as to how he wants to guide his family, yet with their preoccupations (with work, school), he doesn’t know how. When he refers to talking to his grandson when he says “I want to tell him so many things , show him so many things, but I don’t know how to say, maybe the thing also not there anymore” the uncle reveals a more yearning and ‘fatherly’ side of himself where he is aware that he is losing the opportunity to impart the values he has to his grandson, and with the increased time and distance, his values may not apply anymore.

2. Focusing on the final extract of the sociology paper / academic writing (P. 75), review some of the ideas (from basic to complex) that we discussed about pastiche, (meta-)parody, irony. How does Ang use these features of form and style to make both satirical criticisms and more sincere observations of Singapore?

  • This text starts out like a pastiche/parodic in the high class literature + formal language: “collective amnesia”, “culturally homogenous world” which uses the vocabulary of academic works. The questions in the second paragraph seem satirical and parodic with the hyperbolic nature of the extrapolation of the uncle’s often belligerent and bland words.
  • Meta-parody – “What is certain is that his narrative exists in the liminal and indeterminate space between real life and reel life” – Is Ang talking about his own narrative in the construction of Bang My Car? Is Ang mocking us, the readers, for treating Singaporeans like specimens to analyse.
  • Towards the end the last paragraph and statement seems more sincere and more philosophical as the judgements made about Singaporean society rather than just being about subject 23 which develop resonance, for example to feeling ‘unable to be understood by everybody else’, the need to suppress ‘individuality’ for ‘political correctness’, This last statement could also be Ang referring to how her own personal opinions on Singapore is omitted in the book, which is ironic.

3. Now read the section called ‘Hyperhistories’ (p.72-3): how does this section compare to the other in terms of parodic satire and more sincere/convincing contemplation?

Similarly to P.75, moments of explicitly artificially constructed academic writing, with definitions of ‘who a hyperhistory’ applies to, references to ecological sociologists, and the honesty of comparing Singapore to a ‘hot-house’ and the sincerity of recognising Singapore’s superficial construction.

{MORE TO BE ADDED}

Socio-contextual Considerations of ‘Everyone Speaks English’ in Bang My Car by Ann Ang

Socio-contextual Considerations of ‘Everyone Speaks English’ in Bang My Car by Ann Ang

What contextual (social/cultural/political etc) considerations* does the section you have examined engage with and how?

 

In ‘Everybody Speaks English’, Ang creates a dramatic monologue in the voice of an elder male teacher English teacher arguing to a young female teacher about the use of Standard English and rejection of Singlish in the classroom with reference to the historical backdrop of colonialism. The main perspective of this older English teacher sheds light on the community that believes that Singlish should be diminished and more ‘western’ English. However, this is not because western English should be idealised, but that Singaporeans portray how they have become pushed through their history of colonisation through mastering the coloniser’s language. The ways in which Ang constructs the dramatic monologue nuances our understanding of the speaker’s opinions, which gives insight into the contrasting intergenerational and intragenerational divide between how Singaporeans would like to display their patriotism on a local and international level.

Throughout the monologue, Ang creates a stylised voice of the older English teacher through heightening the register of his English and references to portray his larger social opinion through his voice. And displays how this English teacher represents a part of Singaporean population who believe that Singaporean’s should master Standard English as a way to look stronger post-colonisation. Through the use of superfluous and complicated English, using words such as ‘serf’ with the assumption that the implied listeners wouldn’t know it or and drawn out phrases like ‘benevolently pragmatic employment of the language’ which replace common words with over-complicated synonyms, we can see how this speaker wants to display how he himself has ‘mastered the language of the coloniser’ as he wishes other English teachers teach students how to ‘outwit them [colonisers] at their own game’ through helping students develop sophisticated English and put aside Singlish. This point of view showcases the approach that perhaps many elder generation Singaporeans take towards establishing patriotism post-colonialism, wherein eradicating Singlish for Standard English, ensures that they have not ‘relinquished control over English’ and ‘English’ does not ‘use’ them. However, Ang makes us question the reliability of the point of view of the speaker through developing his character as one that could seem condescending through the potentially superior light he sees himself when he asks questions like “Are you familiar with the term ‘preposition’?” or “You do not know who Macaulay is? For shame” where the demeaning nature of the questions makes us question whether his opinion is that of a larger group of elder generation Singaporeans or that of just one overly-conservative traditionalist.

Interestingly, considering this text as a larger part of the chapbook, this idea juxtaposes the ideas of other Singaporeans of this teacher’s generation which are hinted at earlier. For example, in the opening of Bang My Car, Ang shows the commonly seen ‘Uncle’s’ sense of defiance towards ‘westernised’ English used by the upper class Singaporean by phonetic representations of Singlish and allusions to cultural movements. When the local roughly comments on how the upper class Singaporean dares to “Speak Good English” with him, Ang alludes to the cultural movement in Singapore to eradicate the Singlish dialect, and through the representation of the local’s hostility towards the movement and rejects the idea of conforming to the more ‘high-class’ westernised English. Here, we are shown the intragenerational conflict between the elder generation, where one side believes patriotism can be shown as a proud usage of Singlish and the other believes patriotism is actually seen in the mastery of Standard in English. This leads us to question whether this divide is a product of different educational experiences or opportunities in Singapore following the colonisation or whether Singaporeans face a degree of an identity crisis in how best to be themselves being a relatively recently established independent country.

In a larger context, Ang uses the extended reference of Macaulay’s minute to discuss the idea of linguistic imperialism and prompt a reflection as to how far Singapore has been a pawn of linguistic imperialism. In the monologue, the teacher extensively discusses Macaulay’s minute which refers to The English Education Act which was aimed at teaching Indian locals English in colonial India.’ The Empire considered it the responsibility of the superior races to bring civility to the savage natives through teaching them their foreign cultures and languages and establish linguistic imperialism. With this explanation, the teacher compares Macaulay’s minute, and thus the language of English ‘a language of science’ in the sense that it is a ‘machine of cultural subjugation’ for previously colonised countries. This particularly philosophical, honest and sweeping statement evokes an impactful moment – to what extent is Singapore a victim of linguistic imperialism and to what extent should Singaporeans embrace the ‘language of Standard english in contrast to Singlish’? The English language that seems to permeate the interpersonal and cultural opinions formed of individuals in society.

 Linguistic imperialism is seen as a way of one nation exerting power or influence over others. It “Assumes the active promotion of the language by the dominant class as an active expression of power of the powerful over the powerless.”

Project Week Planning – #LO7 #LO3 #LO5

Project Week Planning – #LO7 #LO3 #LO5

Project Week Planning Reflection - #LO7 #LO3

by Megna Srinivasan | Project Week Planning Reflection

Initial Proposal With Our Ideas

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TJ_qp0eiHffl71z4X5tmcQS8L_zMtzFQw56jENbC3O0/edit?usp=sharing

Development into a refined proposal with budgetting...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TyLnRYKNx3qrt7oBBAWT18PboigZF-JGDTGeg3p4efs/edit?usp=sharing

The Wild Geese, New Historical Theory and Concepts: Additions

The Wild Geese, New Historical Theory and Concepts: Additions

Interesting Idea’s from Yuyu’s Wild Geese Response:

It was interesting to see how Ogai observed these changes instead of just promoting it, despite having his own experience overseas, and the countries atmosphere heading towards change and what they called, ‘progress.’

I realised how he is not only expressing his own thoughts but is also foreshadowing, and hinting the metaphor of the wild geese. The sentence, ‘Without any logical connection, the woman of Muenzaka came into my mind.’ from chapter 24, shows the narrator’s intention to hint the metaphor of the wild geese which could not fly as Otama. Also, with him being the narrator and a character at the same time, his thoughts as a character have more value than the other characters in a sense, since it shows the accuracy of his storytelling as well.

Ogai seems to percieve the western influence as something that we should stop and think more about, rather than just accepting everything in order to catch up with their power.

Interesing Idea’s from Anda’s Wild Geese Response:

As readers, we interpret a sense of female empowerment through Otama’s journey in resisting her role as an obedient mistress. However, this might well be the product of our time

There is almost a sense of irony when Ogai had the hero, as perceived by westerners, slice open a symbolism of western influence to save the linnets. The birds are symbolic of Otama, who could then be seen as a symbolism of Japan from her obedience to classes and duty. This is allegorical of how Japan is training their youth through western education to gain true independence and drive the western superiority out of their lands.

The storytelling’s paradoxical mix of first person narrative and omniscience raises suspicions: does the novel recount an actual love story by which Ogai was never a part of, or a fabricated event in which Ogai romanticized the outcasting of western influence?

With The Wild Geese in mind, discuss with a peer which of the concepts above are involved in understanding the creation of meaning between a text and its context? 

  • The text can be seen as a representation in two ways. It is a representation of the transformation of the time period in Japan, of Mori’s life (as it moved from 1880-1912) and the values of society, as we seen in the allegorical nature of the text. It can also be seen as transformative of a reader, for those in our time period, where where understanding the deeper socio-cultural and historical contexts of the work change how we see the misleadingly ‘stagnant’ storyline.
  • Furthermore, the concepts we can link together in this text with regards to Mori is that of Perspective and Identity. Mori, subtly, depicts his own strong viewpoint and perception of Japan’s society and events in the story through how his own identity that has been gained from life has shaped his perspective on Japan…

 

The Historical Context: The Wild Geese on Ogai Mori’s opinions on the relationship between Japan and the West

The Historical Context: The Wild Geese on Ogai Mori’s opinions on the relationship between Japan and the West

From your examination of the novel’s narrative point of view and historical context, and from your application of New Historical Theory as a critical lens, what do you think is Ogai Mori’s perspective of Japan and its relationship with the West at this time, and what aspects of the story have given you these ideas?

New Historical theory thinks about the retelling of history itself: “…questions asked by traditional historians and by new historicists are quite different…traditional historians ask, ‘What happened?’ and ‘What does the event tell us about history?’ In contrast, new historicists ask, ‘How has the event been interpreted?’ and ‘What do the interpretations tell us about the interpreters?’. New Historicism holds that we are hopelessly subjective interpreters of what we observe.

Applying a ‘New Historical’ Perspective in The Wild Geese:

The Wild Geese was written in a period of time where Japan was becoming increasingly aware of international influences and was understanding how to balance Western ideas with Japanese Culture. Ogai wrote The Wild Geese in 1912, around the time where Japan had established it’s adoption of things Western, however, this story was set in 1880, when Japan was still understanding the West. In this time, Ogai gained experiences in the East and in the West himself, where he grew to adopt the idea of resignation and antagonism towards naturalism. We can see how The Wild Geese is a culturally historical and personally historical product of this time in Japan. Culturally, this is seen in scattered references to the West, such as the Parasol Otsune sees Otama wearing which catalyses her suspicion, Suezo’s rejection of the imported canaries in preference for the native linnets, the characterisation of the scary and bad policeman’s Western Shoes.  I think the historical depiction of the timeframe is captured in Ogai’s personal implicit opinions of the Western Influence on Japan, for instance, when the novel mentions renovations to look civilized like “new boards over the ditch replacing the broken and warped ones” or a “racetrack/bicycle track created by an unusual transformation ruining the areas around a pond”, Mori seems to be skeptical as to how necessary these changes were, which would accord with the fact that Ogai became a staunch supporter of things Japanese later in his life. In the end, the author appears to be lamenting the fact that the area around a beautiful pond was sacrificed in the name of progress for what he feels was no good reason. These passages directly reflect a strong similarity between the feelings of the narrator and Ogai himself. From a new historic perspective, perhaps, the book represents the tension that Mori faced in his own life as he tried to balance the creeping influence of the West on Japan is reflected in the several instances of heightened tension in the book, for example, the dilemma between silence and communication (Otama-her father, Okada-Otama), Duty and Freedom (Okada’s education-Otama), or restraint and explicitness (Otama’s passion for Okada-her station as a mistress).

Mori’s narrative style and authorial intent:

“Mori employs embedded narrative… a convenient framework within which to tell a story, much like an oral storyteller might, by diminishing the narrator to all but essential elements, and alternating between characters within the first person perspective. The narrator is thus a nameless observer external to the events of the novel, devoid of accoutrements that add flesh to a character. As a minimalist construct that presents little to obstruct the reader from directly identifying with his experience as a voyeur, the narrator’s perspective easily draws the reader into the psychological mechanism of the novel.” (www.pacificdreams.org/)

1st person narrative, but 3rd person omniscient impersonal description for much of novel which allows the reader to forget about the person behind the voice.  However, the novel is framed by the retrospective, more personal tone of the narrator (writing 35 years after the event), and intrusive, judgmental, empathetic comments can be found scattered throughout the text.

Another way of looking at the novel then is to see it as not being about Otama, Okada and Suezo but actually about the narrator, as a character as well as storyteller, i.e. what we learn about him (despite being nameless) and how the way he tells the story reflects on his character.  For example, his explanation of how he got the information for the story does not explain his ‘knowledge’ of Suezo and Otsune’s relationship.  Clearly he uses poetic license and draws some parallels with his own life as we all do when we recount an event, but the narrator makes some huge imaginative leaps, as if creating his own Chinese style romantic story (but with a clear moralistic ending?).  This could also suggest his vicariousness, living out a fantasy through someone else’s experience (perhaps that’s what the writer is doing through the character of Okada who resembles him in some ways!)

How is Mori’s sense of authorial perspective on the influence of the West on Japan nuanced by narrative perspectives in the story?

Mori’s narrative perspective can be considered to shape the story into an allegory, which displays Mori’s authorial perspective.

Allegory, a symbolic fictional narrative that conveys a meaning not explicitly set forth in the narrative. An allegory may have meaning on two or more levels that the reader can understand only through an interpretive process.

As seen in the references to the West, we could argue that Mori told this story to elaborate on his own opinions of the relationship between Japan and the West. The allegory could be that the character of Otama is a representation of Japan, and her struggles to find her independence matched the struggle the country had to face regarding the western influence. Suezo, could be the Western ideals that trap people in it’s superficial need for grandeur and status. Mori’s ‘nameless observer’ narrative style helps to present this allegory, and his perspective, by taking an intimate but ‘bird’s eye view’ to discuss the pervasive effect of the West on Japan. An example of Mori packing his narrative perspective with some personal judgemental comments to highlight his authorial perspective. Mori’s reference to the killing of the snake, where Mori who has been well-versed in life in the East and the West, played with the connotation of a snake, which in the West is considered suspicious and sly, and in the East is considered a ‘creature that brings a divine curse’ or a ‘fresh world’ through the shedding of it’s skin. Here, we can see how Mori has subtly implied, through the perspective, how he believes that the Western influence on Japan has created a revolutionised country, however, he does not think highly of the permeance of Western ideals on how it has affected the fabric of Japanese society.

What do you think is Ogai Mori’s perspective of Japan and its relationship with the West at this time, and what aspects of the story have given you these ideas?

In summary:

  •  Viewing Mori’s writing as a product (culturally to Japan & personally to Mori) of a historical period of time, as per the New Historic theory, we are shown how Mori implied his rejection of Western ideals and products, and discusses the dilemma’s faced in his society on adapting to Western behaviours or maintain their own, as seen in the inner tension in the lives of the characters.
  • Through the use of narrative perspectives and points of view, Mori combines his own personal experience with the east and the west to demonstrate how he believes the West’s influence on Japan caused a rift between the common morals/ values of a Japan.
Development in the understanding of ‘The Wild Geese’ by Ogai Mori.

Development in the understanding of ‘The Wild Geese’ by Ogai Mori.

By the way you first read The Wild Geese with limited contextual knowledge as a cultural/temporal outsider, and how you have since looked again at the novel through the critical lenses of Japanese aesthetic philosophy and socio-cultural context?

In my first reading of The Wild Geese, the book left me with the feeling of confusion. It seemed like an underwhelming story, with no real climatic plot arc, resolutions or ‘heroism’ that is often seen in stories. But understanding Japanese aesthetic philosophy with regards to The Wild Geese has helped elucidated the impact of the story through it’s subtlety and understatements.

Japanese aesthetic qualities:

  • Simplicity and Naturalness
  • Restraint and Suggestiveness
  • Irregularity/asymmetry & hidden tension
  • Transciency/ Impermanence & perishability

On a macro scale, the whole story was written in a way that contained these elements. The hidden tension between the relationship of Otama-Okada for example, or the perishability of their potential relationship. The story seemed to be revealed in a suggestive manner, where more was implied than explicitly said, for example, during the discussion of Otama’s intimate life as a mistress. There is definitely a sense of irregularity in the story, where the story takes a shift from being told by the narrator in his first person perspective, to him taking a back-step and describing the development of Suezo’s experiences with Otama, Otsune and Otama’s interest in Otsune.

In a micro scale, natural references and events are used to catalyse the story or with a degree of suggestiveness. For example, the following notable moment of using animals to indicate information about Suezo’s charater on Otama’s relationship. Suezo and the Linnets: Suezo chose to buy a linnet for Otama – a bird that has suffered incarceration for their beauty. The are dainty and quiet birds. The linnet was a powerful emblem of a lost way of life, for it is one of the classic birds of our farmed lowland landscape. The symbolism of this bird shows not only Suezo’s materialistic appreciation for Otama, but also how he likens Otama to be his trapped object and happy she is a silent woman. Furthermore, the birds in the cage – one male and one female – idealises Suezo’s image of Otama and him in a cage. Interestingly, the hesistance of the shopkeeper to sell these birds could represent Otama’s father’s hesitance when ‘selling’ her to Suezo, and the imagery of two frightened motionless birds could depict Otama’s apprehension to be trapped by Suezo. Here’s the premise of the birds, using simplicity and naturalness, reveals a lot about the dyadic relationship between Suezo and Otama.

Japanese Social Conduct

  • Wa – harmony in the unity and confirmity in socially station, status and self-respect
  • Giri – obligations and duties
  • On – debt of gratitude

Eg. of this in Otama’s obligation to her father to give him a good life by being Suezo’s mistress, Otsune’s obligation to Suezo as a wife, Suezo status in society, Otama’s father’s lack of opposition to Suezo as he is of a lower social class, Otama’s gratitude to Okada for killing the snake and the need to thank him socially.

  • Ninjo – conflicting emotions/desires with obligation
  • Haji – outward shame

Eg. Suezo’s status in society as usurer is shameful, Okada’s conflicting emotions with being a student and Otama, Otama’s conflicting emotions about obligations to Suezo and Okada.

  • Akirame – resignation

Eg. Otama’s father resignation with Otama’s new life, Ostune’s regisnation of Suezo cheating, Okada resignation that he will not pursue Otama, Otama’s resignation and Suezo’s mistress.

Interestingly, in the Japanese literary tradition, before Meiji, novels were a form of self-confession which was very different from the structure of the western novel. The central character was used as an alter ego for the author himself. In The Wild Geese, Okada is representative of Ogai himself. In the novel, Okada moves to Germany to pass his doctoral examinations like Ogai did when he was 22. Ogai’s travelling abroad points to his adoption of the characteristic of resignation we find in The Wild Geese. Since Ogai was a german-speaking doctor in the Japanese army, he had no choice but to go to Germany. For the character Okada, the offer of the overseas job took his growing relationship with Otama out of his hands. Ogai was in love with a German but due to his responsibilities, he denied his love for her. This occurrence illuminates the importance of resignation for Ogai. This resignation is manifested in the novel when Otama learns of Suezo’s profession and again when Okada leaves Otama behind. Therefore, by Ogai using features of his own life as a source of inspiration or model, he is at the same time demonstrating a central feature of the Japanese novel of the time, the shosetsu.

How has this affected your understanding of the novel, but how does it shape your understanding of literature more broadly?

Through understanding Japanese philosophies and writing styles, I feel like reading the novel has made me reconsider the extent of the important of explicity. There is meaning in looking at the subtleties of a story and appreciating it for it socio-cultural nuances.

Dressing up for the Carnival – Carol Shields

Dressing up for the Carnival – Carol Shields

 

The author effectively uses a third person limited omniscient narrative with free indirect discourse to display Mr. Gilman’s yearning for his youth and give insight to the subtle denial of his old-age on a visit to his daughter-in-law. The author describes Mr. Gilman’s frivolous purchase of the flowers in which he questions ‘why not buy two bunches, or three? Why not indeed? Or four?’, wherein the author ironically portrays Mr.Gilman as childlike through the use of animated rhetorical questions, showing a lack of self-control, impulsivity and excitement that can not only be attributed to his playful denial of his age but, more significantly, the overcompensation needed to prove to himself and society that he is still youthful. The narration further highlights Mr.Gilman’s innocent aspiration to seem full of life when he somewhat irresponsibly does not place his flowers in water as ‘the green paper wrapping offers a certain kind of legitimacy’, wherein the need for ‘legitimacy’ serves as a consolation to himself that the materialistic purchase of flowers does enough to reverse his age. Furthermore, the author display’s how Mr.Gilman’s purchase serves as the right ‘oblation’ to obtain his daughter-in-law’s approval, wherein the word ‘oblation’, often used in the context of making a religious offering, heightens the description of Mr. Gilman’s need to be younger to feel accepted or loved by a higher power or his family as he is even willing to pray for it. The author enlists free indirect discourse here to position readers to sympathise with and pity Mr. Gilman’s yearning for lost youth as he craves the love and approval given to a younger man, however, this narrative style also allows for a more distant observation of his slightly delusional reliance on seemingly insignificant flowers to reverse his age.

The author further heightens the narration of Mr.Gilman’s transformative experience, by describing the increased social welcome Mr. Gilman faced when holding a bouquet of flowers, to discuss the issue of social exclusion of the elderly.The author shows how holding a simple object of a flower, often considered a symbol of new life, changes how Mr.Gilman is treated in society when they externally narrate that he ‘has never receives more courteous attention’ or that the ‘eyes of a stranger seemed than friendlier usual’. Here the narrative subtly takes on the nature of a social commentary targeting the nature of society that prefers ‘evanescence and gaiety’ and makes people feel “worse off than the average person” if they do not have vibrancy or relatability. In these moments, the author also breaks the free indirect discourse by using verbal quotations such as ‘hello there’ to highlight the external attention Mr.Gilman yearns for and obtains because of the simple gesture of seeming ‘like a man who is expected somewhere and important’.

However, the author creates a dual perspective between Mr. Gilman’s inner thoughts and a detached view of Mr.Gilman’s presence and actions to keep the narrative tethered to the sadly comical reality of Mr. Gilman’s life, diminishing the idealistic hopes lended to him by the flowers. The narrative offers two contrasting descriptions of Mr. Gilman at the start and at the end of the extract to emphasise the difference between Mr. Gilman’s reality and the idealistic young version of himself that is brought out through his purchase of the flowers. The author provides a view of Mr. Gilman’s realistic state throughout the extract. The author ironically describes him by stating he is in his ‘obverse infancy’ and ‘sucking and tonguing the missing tooth of his life’ where Mr.Gilman’s life is reduced through the use of vocabulary like ‘sucking’, ‘tonguing’ and ‘infancy’, which carry the connotations of helplessness, weakness, dependence and repulsivity, to highlight the reality of the cyclical nature of life as Mr.Gilman is desperately holding on to life, like a baby, but to no avail. Furthermore, the narration of the activities that Mr.Gilman engages in throughout his day with his flowers diminish the quality of his newfound vibrancy as the author lists his mundane visits to ‘the bank, the drugstore, the foot specialist and the afternoon card club’ that serves to emphasise that attempts to make himself feel young may be overshadowed by the dull or mundane reality of his life. This underlying message is brought to the forefront in the ending of this extract wherein the author emphasises that the image of the ‘charming gent’ Mr.Gilman hopes to be is him being ‘a man in disguise’ whose aspirations of youth sadly cannot be met in reality. This message stands apart from the author’s use of free indirect discourse to further show the inescapable divide between Mr.Gilman’s innocent yearning of youth and approval and the reality of dullness or social exclusion towards the elderly.

Skip to toolbar