Discuss How Veronica Is Portrayed and to What Extent the Writer Creates Sympathy for Her. Using Mathilde from ‘the Necklace’, Compare How the Sympathy We Feel for Them May Differ.
Veronica is a young but unique character who is carefully crafted in this story by Adewale - Maja Pearce who evokes emotions of sympathy towards her in a distinctive way; Veronica is not a woman who fits in with the stereotypical idea of a woman from the village, she does not seem to care that there is no hope for a better life or the future. This is perhaps the main reason why we as readers feel more sympathy towards Veronica as opposed to Mathilde in The Necklace; her almost inhuman ability to simply accept everything that is thrown at her. Mathilde is directly opposite to Veronica in the way that she behaves: Veronica accepts her unlucky situations and Mathilde complains and makes her life worse.
Initially, the writer introduces Veronica to the reader through her family and her background. We are told that ‘her father was a brute’ and a ‘lot of responsibility for bring up the other children had fallen on her’. From these statements, we can clearly see that Veronica, as a child was beaten and that a lot of duty had fallen on her. However the writer does not tell us Veronica’s reaction to it, perhaps to keep the reader in suspense. Instead Maja Pearce uses descriptive detail and fairly simple sentences to enlighten the reader about Veronica’s childhood. The effect of this being sympathy towards Veronica as she had to suffer an alcoholic father and being beaten.
The writers use of simple vocabulary, whenever she speaks, emphasis Veronicas simplicity which helps us comprehend her unpretentious life. ‘Don’t talk like that’ and ‘Don’t talk foolishness’ are some phrases that show the way Veronica speaks. These phrases indicate the meager amount of education that she has, overall creating sympathy for her as education is seen as a pivotal part of life. In addition to her minimalistic views to life, she doesn’t have any prospects for the future unlike Mathilde who ‘dreamed of great drawing-rooms dressed with old silk’. This further creates sympathy for Veronica, as she
Initially, the writer introduces Veronica to the reader through her family and her background. We are told that ‘her father was a brute’ and a ‘lot of responsibility for bring up the other children had fallen on her’. From these statements, we can clearly see that Veronica, as a child was beaten and that a lot of duty had fallen on her. However the writer does not tell us Veronica’s reaction to it, perhaps to keep the reader in suspense. Instead Maja Pearce uses descriptive detail and fairly simple sentences to enlighten the reader about Veronica’s childhood. The effect of this being sympathy towards Veronica as she had to suffer an alcoholic father and being beaten.
The writers use of simple vocabulary, whenever she speaks, emphasis Veronicas simplicity which helps us comprehend her unpretentious life. ‘Don’t talk like that’ and ‘Don’t talk foolishness’ are some phrases that show the way Veronica speaks. These phrases indicate the meager amount of education that she has, overall creating sympathy for her as education is seen as a pivotal part of life. In addition to her minimalistic views to life, she doesn’t have any prospects for the future unlike Mathilde who ‘dreamed of great drawing-rooms dressed with old silk’. This further creates sympathy for Veronica, as she