Dear Editor,Referring to the response, written by Mr Clarke, to your article (Tuesday 10th: The New chivalricism), I write to express more or less this supposedly ?dangerous? bowel movement in education beingness taught to mature students in naughty schools. In reality, black letter textbooks argon an exquisite blend of iniquity and whodunit with elements of romance. The study of such texts each(prenominal)ows us to explore the determine and beliefs of the time as well as delving into the darker issues of inn. There is no proof that studying black letter texts can lead to ?a path of anti-social, rebellious behaviour in an already disillusion and directionless group? unless you, Mr Clarke, atomic number 18 judging by your indue birth children which doesn?t make for a fair representation of every children you know? Gothic texts make for fantastic reading and exhibit and are enjoyed by large number of all ages all everywhere the world so why not in schools?The Gothic genre will last the test of time as it is flexible enough to allow it to fit any scope through the alteration of the techniques apply. However, what hasn?t changed are the common aspects of the Gothic genre which include uncertainty of life, losing a grip on reality, unfairness of life, power of supernatural forces which can?t be controlled, fear for safety of women and children and physical and social isolation; all of which are in the two set texts The Turn of the hunch (TOTS) and The Others.
In TOTS, the shrouding of details concerning the former g all overness?s death by Mrs Grose creates a feeling of mystery early in the story. after the governess learns of her predecessor?s death, she asks how it occurs and Mrs Grose replies with: ?He never told me! I must(prenominal) get back to work.? From this, we understand that Mrs Grose is being evasive and essay to avoid giving away(p) any information about the past.
In The Others, we get a similar sort of mystery right from the counterbalance of the film. The technique of foreshadowing is used to give us an idea of what questions will be answered after viewing the film in its entirety. In the children?s bedroom, the children (Nicholas and Anne) question: ?When?s Daddy coming home?? and their mother (Grace) tries to give zipper away by saying ?When the war?s over?. However, we know that secretly Grace knows that her husband (Charles) was probably killed just now she has not received any official notification. We can certify she, just like Mrs Grose, is trying to seem assured of the true statement when in reality, they both prepare their uncertainties.
Another aspect of Gothic in TOTS is the appearance of ghosts. In Chapter 3, the governess takes a walk and hopes to fill up some bingle along the way. She notices a man observing her and she wonders if she had created the emblem of the man in her mind or if he was rattling a ghost. This leads us to ask ourselves whether the governess is losing a grip on reality as well as sanity and is departning to see things which are non-existent or whether ghosts actually exist. It also touches on the uncertainty of life. Are we to believe that this man is the ghost of a former servant who died, Peter Quint?Later on in the book, while the governess is with Flora and Mrs Grose, she spots Ms Jessel for the help time and draws their attention to her. Neither of them can see anything which gives us further evidence that the governess is losing her grip on reality and is by chance insane. This is most likely due to physical and social isolation as Bly seems to be cut off from the rest of the outside world and due to the fact that the Uncle is asked to be left al oneness. This may lead to the governess startle to go crazy and hence begin picturing people who are not actually there. This could be a reflection of the beliefs and values at the time of piece of writing as people didn?t regard supernatural forces to be real and they thought those who did were insane. This hasn?t changed in the time leading(p) up to the present.
In the scene of The Others where Anne is sitting wearing her queue on the floor, Grace sees the face of the old woman Anne move pictures of dressed up as her daughter. She yells out ?You?re not my daughter!? and violently attacks her until Anne?s face reappears.
It seems that Grace is starting to also lose her grip on reality and is shy(p) whether she just imagined the old woman was there or whether ghosts are actually present inside the house. Just like in TOTS, this is caused by physical and social isolation with Grace, at one stage saying ?I must go out. I feel cut off from the rest of the outside world.?Of course, with the family being strictly Catholic, Grace doesn?t believe in ghosts and uses theology to try to understand life. She believes if she follows all the rules she and her family will be safe. This could rear insight into the beliefs of the time when more people became religious and used it as a way of explaining why they are alive(p) and what happens in the afterlife. This also shows the changing beliefs in the time among the two texts were written; more people probably would drive home accepted the idea of religion. However, as we can see, the fact that people who believed in supernatural forces were seen as irrational and foolish; for example Anne.
Setting is also vital to a Gothic text and in The Others, we have a large house with completely three people living in it and the rest is emptiness. star thing which adds to the element of Gothic is the children?s disease ? photosensitivity ? which means they cannot be exposed to light. This causes the house to be in constant darkness which is perfect for concealing. It is ironic that in one scene, the children are terrified when the curtains have been removed and they are sidesplitter because of the sunlight whereas normally, children are afraid of the dark.
Through the Gothic genre, we are able to see the darker issues of society put in an socialize way and understand them in a more exhaustive way. It provides us useful information to determine the beliefs and values of society at that particular time and allows us to see how we have changed over time. Are we going to allow the likes of Mr Clarke to take away these quality genre texts from high schools?Aubrey TseEastwoodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Others_(2001_film)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turn_of_the_Screw
If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.comIf you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my paper
No comments:
Post a Comment