The Task.
·
You’re going to
train yourself to become a detail detective. You need to sniff out ten
sentences or phrases from the story ‘Something Old, Something New’ that may
appear on first reading to be insignificant, but that on inspection prove to be
absolutely crucial to the story and our understanding of it.
·
Your task doesn’t
end there. You must argue your case as to why one of your details is crucial
and persuade others of this.
·
Your chosen
sentence or phrase can elucidate (shed light upon) any aspect of the narrative
but must also be significant to the
story as a whole. Without this
detail the story might somehow take on a different meaning or significance.
You are to then submit an answer using the comment box below the blogpost
For example:
‘His luggage was mostly presents for her family. She
had told him on the phone what to get and how much to get.’
On
first reading, these two sentences just appear to be giving us information
about what the character has brought with him to Khartoum. They are easily
overlooked.
However,
these sentences are crucial to the story as a whole because they tell us a huge
amount about: a) the characters, b) the characters’ relationship, c) the
woman’s family, d) the cultural traditions and intricacies bound up in the
proposed marriage and e) what the marriage means to both parties.
You
could argue that the fact that the woman has given the man instructions about
what gifts and how many of them to buy is crucial to how we, the reader, will
view the marriage. Western readers might be suspicious – they might think that
there are elements here of ‘buying’ the woman’s family, and the fact that the
man is compliant with the woman’s wishes might make us view him as naïve or a
victim in some way. A western reader might also conclude that the gifts are a
key part of the marriage – no gifts, no marriage; no dowry, no marriage. The
writer is almost certainly aware of the various nuances of these two sentences
and may even have ‘planted’ them for us to find. She may be hoping to work
with, challenge or even manipulate commonly held assumptions or beliefs.
"‘I mustn’t kiss you.’
ReplyDelete‘No,’ she laughed, ‘you "
At first glance of this comment it just seems like a question that is generally between friends asked by the narrator.
This however isn't the case because it defines a) the type of culture b)foreshadows what the story is about and c) the past between the two characters which foreshadows the story line.
You can argue that because the man is being restricted in what he does over in her country with her that he isn't in control of the situation at hand because he is being told what he can and can't do. Another view for a reader is that the man is in control because he has a plan to do something but is making a sacrifice in order to achieve it by following the commands said, so he will not run into trouble.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete"He wanted to say, 'you have no idea how much I ache for you, you have no idea'. But he could not say that, not least because the brother understood English."
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's clear that this quote displays how he wishes not for their love between each other to be openly displayed to the brother, the true depth of meaning, however, for this quote is quickly discarded.
If we are to consider this quote and it's implications, we can use it to develop our understanding on the a) cultural differences b) characters c) the woman's family and d) the importance of the marriage in this book.
Without this quote the full traditionalist style of the woman's family, including the present brother, would remain undiscovered. One may say that this is simply a shy man not wanting to express his love in front of anyone else, however others may argue differently. The narrator (who is the woman's partner) specifically spells out to the reader how his partner's brother, in particular, should not hear what he wants to say, highlighting the importance of the couple's family's views and opinions on influencing whether a marriage occurs. In western culture a cheesy comment between a couple wouldn't make anyone think twice, however here, in Khartoum, there are strict rules and regulations regarding relationships, which the narrator must abide by if he is to ensure he can marry his partner. His self-restraint, demonstrates how committed he is to keeping the family of his wife-to-be happy.
'Just a precious stillness, patience, patience for the door to open, for the contact to be made, for the comforting closeness'
ReplyDeleteThis sentence in the story tells us minute hints and details as to how the male character in this story is feeling, he is somewhat waiting for his bride-to-be to enter the apartment room as that is where they are going to get married. It tells us on one hand the uncertainty of marriage and the nervousness of his being but on the other hand it portrays a somewhat eagerness and excitement to get married.
As we find out at the end of the story, this male character has no idea what his bride actually looks like, so therefore the uncertainty and nervousness before may foreshadowed that very moment, the unknown of what his bride looks like is worrying to him; and it turns out that she wasn't what he expected.
Overall, I see this quote as a portrayal of the male figure in general as a worrying person, as we see from the stealing of the camera earlier on, and the female figure representing a somewhat mysterious character in this story.
"Her country disturbed him." When we first look at the first line of a story we normally don't bother to look at the meaning behind the story, but this first line did because when something disturbs someone it is probably not welcoming or it isn't what a person usually see's in his every day life.
ReplyDeleteSo this may suggest that the country disturbed him because of its features as well as this it could be the people around him that may have disturbed him.
This first line may also suggest or foreshadow some incident that may happen in the future, and that may disturb him because of the fact that incident may happen.
"He wanted to say, 'you have no idea how much I ache for you, you have no idea'. But he could not say that, not least because the brother understood English."
ReplyDeleteThis quote is showing us that even though he has an undying love for his soon to be wife he cant seem to say how much he loves her as the brother of his fiancee understands English and he doesn't want their love to be very public.
When we then think about this quote we can see that it shows us: A) The love between the characters B) About the woman's family C) Some of the characters mentioned within the story and D)How publicly people want to express feelings to each other.
So when we look at this quote we can see that the narrator of this story may not actually love her as much as he states as he can't seem to say it or he may just be shy, at this point in the story though we cannot fully tell. He may also not want to say how he feels about her though as by stating this due to the cultural differences people may change their opinions on whether the marriage should occur or not.
"Can't we be alone, just for a bit?" -Line 260
ReplyDeleteThis quote has a deeper connotation than just being part of a conversation between the two main characters. It shows the main character's need for the woman's true identity and in turn foreshadows the bit at the end of the story when they finally are married, and will be together.
This quote also shows how the main character feels about her families idea of shielding her from the main characters eyes. In this way, it shows how someone from another culture reacts to the way different cultures act. This is a key theme in the story, contrasting two different identities and cultures.
As a whole this quote shows the main character's suprise at her family idea and also foreshadows the events after the marriage that we briefly see.
"He became aware that everyone looked like her, shared her colour, the women were dressed like her and they walked with the same slowness which had seemed to him exotic when he had seen her walking in Edinburgh."
ReplyDeleteAt first, this quote only seems to be the man experiencing the people in Khartoum for the first time. The entire experience is new to him at this point and the reader wouldn't know much about the two main characters and not even how they met.
It is a key part of the story, as the contrast between cultures is one of the main themes. The quote shows that the man is realizing that in Edinburgh, the woman stood out, in Khartoum, he stood out. He was only drawn to her because of her 'exotic' look and ways but now he sees that she is one in many of her culture. It also is the start of the man thinking about how well he really knows the Muslim culture. Though he is a Muslim himself, the man doesn't share the same values as the woman and her family. You could argue that the man shares the Muslim faith, but not the Muslim culture.
“She sat in the front next to her brother.He sat in the back with the rucksack that wouldn’t fit in the boot”
ReplyDeleteOn first impression this quote seems of no importance, and that it is merely describing the situation, however it could be seen as a metaphor for their relationship and how their different cultures clash. For example, his culture and background could be the 'rucksack' that doesn’t fit in, and his future wife’s culture could be seen as the 'boot' and that their cultures don’t work well together.
Throughout the story this is significant as her country’s society is a lot less developed, therefore crime rates are much higher, this leads to him being robbed which causes an argument and a very tense atmosphere, also because of her culture they can hardly spend anytime together alone which has an impact on their relationship which fortunately is resolved after the wedding.
"her country disturbed him." this is the first line in the story and it shows that the main character already is uncomfortable with his surroundings. as his is the first line of the story we dont really read it properly and take time to understand what it means.
ReplyDeleteLater on you can tell he is uncomfortable with his surroundings when he is in the car and he is watching through the window. he was also right to feel anxious about were he is as he also gets things stolen from him when he is about.
also he is not comfortable/used to the same services as they are. for example when the uncle dies he has to stay outside in a tent with the other men whilst the women stayed indoors and mourned the death of the uncle.
"He was cautious by nature, wanting new things but held back by a vague mistrust. It was enough for the time being that he had stepped into the Nile Café, he had no intention of experimenting with weird tastes."
ReplyDeleteAt a first glance these sentences might not seem that they tell us much about his character, but the more you read into it, the more it can tell you.
It tells us that he doesn't like to try new things, that when he does he feels outside of his comfort zone. Yet throughout the whole of the story he is constantly trying new things. He is in a completely different country to his home country. He has gone from being someone that was almost scared to trying new foods to save him from being outside of his comfort zone, to marrying someone in a foreign country with a completely different lifestyle.
'The car moved away from the crowded market to a wide shady road.'
ReplyDeleteUpon first looking at this quote, I'm sure you're wondering 'hmm, what is he on about?' Well, I'll ask you this: why don't we delve deeper into this?
This quote tells us several things - one of which is that the car was in the market. This tells us that although it seems like a deserted place, there are still people there and they are not alone. It also foreshadows the upcoming theft of the man's stuff - where there is a crowded place with things on sale there is a good chance that there are also criminals present.
Also, the quote tells us that it still keeps true to the environmental surroundings - wide shady roads are ever-present everywhere around the world and so this helps us to believe the story more and picture what it is like for the characters.
P.S. It looks like you got your example from here - tut tut...: http://prezi.com/vdmbxdmnulii/something-old-something-new/?utm_source=website&utm_medium=prezi_landing_related&utm_campaign=prezi_landing_related_author
By Keoni D'Souza