Birdsong

Question 1

Part One

Answer 1

• pre-war society, Faulks lays foundations for fore-shadowing of war ‘Theipval’
• Calm idyll of Azaire house, verges on eerie
• Stephen = spontaneity
• insight into pre-lapsarian France, verdant countryside/ edenic landscapes before destruction, untouched with years of tradition shattered by war
• context: factory strikes, industrial, upper class society
• Themes: physical uncontrollable nature, chronological structure but fragmented narrative, 3rd person omniscient voice
• superficial harmony undercut by reality of discord and decay
• metaphoric use of prolepsis e.g. stephen at cathedral
• sexual passage reminiscent of fairytale
• Marxist perspectives of English class system, inhuman to those more materially affluent
• regards Isabelle as spoil of victory
• ironically birdsong seems emblem of innocence yet form of torture for stephen