Small Island Andrea Levy - 1126 Words

How does Levy tell the story in the Prologue? Levy uses a number of different techniques and aspects of narrative in order to tell the story in the prologue of Small Island. She opens the story in the perspective of Queenie, but when she was a child (‘Before’) – (use of time as an aspect). This is also the use of characterisation to tell the story, because the perspective lends a naivety to the telling of the story, the most prominent example being when Queenie meets the African man – she is intimidated by him and is too young to hide it. She is fascinated by him, and also attracted to him - but as a child doesn’t she realise that - however Emily and Graham do, and proceed to tease her. There are underlining themes of ignorance, power†¦show more content†¦This idea of Queenies family being above their workers is extended when her father exerts his power once more by dismissing Graham’s dream of going to live in Australia with ‘Australia – you? You daft beggar.’ He can call Graham what he wants – whether it be Jim or beggar – because he is his boss and of a higher class. And yet another example is Queenie using Emily as a bin (in a way). She offers Emily her apple core – so Emily gets Queenies ‘sloppy seconds’ so to speak, and is disposing of the apple for Queenie. Levy uses Queenies father as a voice for the issues of class and race in the prologue, but the irony in this is that later on, her father calls her a ‘daft ‘aporth’. This isn’t educated English, and contrasts with the African man’s polite etiquette and proper English – ‘It’s nice to meet you.’ So in actuality, Queenies father acts like he is of a lower class than the foreign people, but thinks of himself as better than them. Although the reader doesn’t know it, Levy has already started to create and background and add development to the story that will occur later – she is using the aspect of the starts and endings of stories in her narrative. When Queenie meets the African man, we see already that she is fascinated by him – and it is hinted that she is also attracted to him. The fascination is shown by her detailed description of him that includesShow MoreRelatedChinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart1344 Words   |  6 Pages He is noticing the Nigerian villages that they are, â€Å"falling apart.† The significance of the symbolism is it shows the readers that Achebe was thinking about the things that make people uncomfortable about Africa. The â€Å"bite† of the mosquito is small and insignificant at first but humans instinctively scratch which makes it so much worse. Resistance is building and the sign of the characters actions are in the representation that Okonkwo ha s, â€Å"killed it.† (Achebe, 1986) The bluntness of death provesRead MoreAnalysis Of Carol Ann Duffy s Small Island 3117 Words   |  13 Pageswith relationships which are flawed and dysfunctional. Levy presents unconventional relationships in the extract where Queenie decides that raising a mixed-race baby in the 1940s is not pragmatic and will be very difficult for her to raise a child who is mixed-race in such a racist society. Therefore, Queenie s ultimate decision is to give her baby, Michael Jr to Gilbert and Hortense for a better life. Small Island , a novel by Andrea Levy is set in 1948 and before but written in 2004 focusingRead More Caryl Phillips The Nature of Blood Essay3229 Words   |  13 PagesLedent finds Malka’s quote reminiscent of Samuel Selvon’s quote on England, â€Å"the land did not deceive me, as the people did† (qtd. in Ledent 192). Other Caribbean narratives, fictional as well as actual, convey the same sentiment. In Andrea Levy’s novel Small Island, Gilbert, a Jamaican soldier, tries to explain his self-perception as British to two Black American soldiers: â€Å"Jamaica is a colony. Britain is our Mother Country. 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