Comparison- Flight/Your Shoes/Chemistry
Explore how the writers of the short stories studied communicate meaning to the reader.
Introduction:
The short stories I have chosen to focus on for this essay are ‘‘Flight’ by Doris Lessing and ‘Your Shoes’ by Michele Roberts. I will briefly refer to a third, Graham Swift’s ‘Chemistry’. I will show the character’s desire for control or continuity which conflicts with the choices or sense of independence of another character. I will consider how the writers use the theme of a generation gap, and use symbolism and metaphor to convey meaning to the reader.
Both the writers of ‘Flight’ and ‘Your Shoes’ the narrative technique of symbolism. In ‘Flight’ the grandfather uses a pigeon and in ‘Your Shoes’ the mother uses a pair of new white training shoes (trainers). Both symbolise purity, they are portrayed as precious and in need of being looked after. In both stories, the treatment of the symbolic objects shows how both the grandfather and the mother wish to protect their loved ones from the evils of the outside world. They are also showing that they need to be controlled for their own safety, that in their opinions they are still too young to take this journey on their own. Both of these characters are possessive and don't want to let go of what is dearest to them. Both characters act more possessively due to previous experiences, the grandfather has seen other grandchildren get married and leave home.
The mother in ‘Your Shoes’ continually refers to her troubled childhood where she felt she was ignored. The text states, ‘She loved you more than she loved me. It isn’t fair.’
The pigeon and trainers are both symbols of the children used in place of the characters that either have or are about to leave home.
In ‘Flight’, the grandfather took control over the bird. He deliberately held out his wrist for the bird to take flight and then caught it again at the moment it spread its wings. ‘Now you stay there,’ he muttered.
He does this because he has seen
Introduction:
The short stories I have chosen to focus on for this essay are ‘‘Flight’ by Doris Lessing and ‘Your Shoes’ by Michele Roberts. I will briefly refer to a third, Graham Swift’s ‘Chemistry’. I will show the character’s desire for control or continuity which conflicts with the choices or sense of independence of another character. I will consider how the writers use the theme of a generation gap, and use symbolism and metaphor to convey meaning to the reader.
Both the writers of ‘Flight’ and ‘Your Shoes’ the narrative technique of symbolism. In ‘Flight’ the grandfather uses a pigeon and in ‘Your Shoes’ the mother uses a pair of new white training shoes (trainers). Both symbolise purity, they are portrayed as precious and in need of being looked after. In both stories, the treatment of the symbolic objects shows how both the grandfather and the mother wish to protect their loved ones from the evils of the outside world. They are also showing that they need to be controlled for their own safety, that in their opinions they are still too young to take this journey on their own. Both of these characters are possessive and don't want to let go of what is dearest to them. Both characters act more possessively due to previous experiences, the grandfather has seen other grandchildren get married and leave home.
The mother in ‘Your Shoes’ continually refers to her troubled childhood where she felt she was ignored. The text states, ‘She loved you more than she loved me. It isn’t fair.’
The pigeon and trainers are both symbols of the children used in place of the characters that either have or are about to leave home.
In ‘Flight’, the grandfather took control over the bird. He deliberately held out his wrist for the bird to take flight and then caught it again at the moment it spread its wings. ‘Now you stay there,’ he muttered.
He does this because he has seen