Chemistry Graham Swift Flashcards
Exposition: “ It followed an actual existing line between Grandfather, myself and mother (…) pulling us toward him on some invisible cord.”
Pepper: “crouch on his haunches”
- wants to be as close as possible
A01: the childlike view of the boat’s geometric course reveals how hard the narrator is trying to comfort himself by the closeness.
A02: tautology- shows how he is trying to prove he is safe and protected
Dynamic verb “pulling”- the grandfathers earnest wish to protect and nurture
A03: the writer invites the reader’s sympathy for the boy; a trauma informed reader in 2023 would recognise the underlying feelings of loss and I security in this opening.
Mid point: “ I thought: now we are going to face Ralph, now we are going to show our solidarity”
A01: shock and betrayal
A02: decisive adverb “now”- made up his mind even though he is a child with no power
Unifying pronoun “we”- showing a unified front and suggesting they still had the same relationship like in the past
A03: WI the writer sympathises through the 1st person viewpoint the distress when a parent seems to choose their new partner over their existing family.
Denouement: “ He was smiling, and I knew: the launch was still travelling over to him, unstoppable, unsinkable, along that invisible line”
A01: The boy sees his grandfather’s ghost and remembers back to the beginning of the story, reflecting on the never ending bond they had that transcends death.
A02: defiant prefix “un”- he’s trying to go back in time and undo the death of the one family member who he really connected with
Structural echo to the “invisible line”- the grandfather used to pull the boy and his mother towards him on an invisible cord so after his death the remnants of his love still linger
A03: Graham Swift ends this desperately sad story with a moving hopeful tone teaching the reader about the power of memories and love after death. However it could also be read more bleakly as he had ‘nowhere to go’ but dream of his grandfather’s ghost.
