Chemistry - Graham Swift Flashcards
‘Mother, Grandfather and I’
Rule of Three:
Sense of completion and balance.
‘As if Grandfather was pulling us towards him on some invisible cord’
Grandfather takes the patriarchal role within the family, a dependant figure. ‘Pulling’: possessive, controlling.
‘An actual line existing between Grandfather, myself and Mother’
Metaphor: symbolising the depth of their bond, as if they were connected literally.
‘Suddenly became deeper and deeper into the water, sank’
The boat sinking acts as a metaphor for their relationship. Sinking mirrors the Father’s death - ‘Irish sea’ / ‘miniature sea’. The first time the narrator witnesses a tragedy.
‘He said, very gravely, ‘you must accept it, you can’t get it back’ as if he were repeating something to himself.
Links to Grandfather’s own experience with grief, linking to the theme/motif. Adverb ‘gravely’ exemplifies solemnity of the loss, which is still affecting the Grandfather.
‘Grandfather, without saying anything, would often gaze curiously into my face.’
Adds to the grief motif, seeing reminders of the person you lost again due to physical similarities. Adverb ‘curiously’ - unusual, questioning manner.
‘In a state which resembled a trance, as if some outside force were all the time directing her’
Child perspective/understanding of grief and depression. Grief motif: Mother tries to move on as soon as possible to supress the grief.
‘My childish assumptions were only a way of allaying my own grief.’ (father’s death)
Narrator properly reflects upon the situation, trying to understand loss as a child with low emotional depth/intelligence.
‘Allaying’ verb: diminish
‘As if afraid I might turn into air.’
Mother struggles with the fear that loss installs in people.
‘We lived quietly, calmly, even contentedly within the scope of this sad symmetry.’
Rule of 3: exemplify to reader how comfortable their life had become (before Ralph)
Sibilance: tension, the reoccurrence of grief, the mirroring of loss between Mother and Grandfather.
‘He was a big man, who ate heartily, and I was often afraid he might hit me.’
Shows the classical patriarchal power/role Ralph has within the family dynamic.
‘We lived for each other’
Effect of grief: moving on, emotional dependence.
‘The delicate equilibrium he, she and I had constructed over the months.’
Chemistry motif: ‘equilibrium’, the sense of balance/completion
‘I remember keeping a sort of equation in my head: if Ralph hurts Grandfather it means I am right’
Chemistry motif: reactants and products. Growing up motif: The childish processing of relationship and emotional changes whilst growing up. Reader immersed in the narrators thoughts.
‘Her face had the same quivery look of being about to spill over.’
Metaphor for the breakdown of the family, a reoccurring image to the narrator.
‘I had a sudden giddying feeling that there is no end to anything.’
Growing up motif: a moment of realisation. a turning point within the story as the narrator becomes more mature/aware. Overwhelmed by the complication of life.
‘Chemistry is the science of change.’
Chemistry motif.
‘We used to take real gold and change it.’
Grandfather discussing his work. Metaphor for the effect of Ralph upon the family.
‘He looked like some torpid, captive animal that had lost even the will to eat.’
Grandfather shown to be so isolated and helpless as a result of family conflict/grief.
Torpid: mentally or physically inactive.
‘His hair and clothes were wet, his lips caked with salt: seaweed hung from his shoulders.’
Grief motif, imagery, childish dream of seeing a lost one.
‘Where he trod, pools of water formed on the carpet and slowly oozed outwards.’
Imagery, possible metaphor for the grief of him sinking into the household.
‘He’s only ten, what can he know?’ There was a thousand things I wanted to tell them.
Grief motif: childhood expectation of being unable to understand it, too young to grasp the insurmountable grief placed upon the family.
‘Mother, Ralph and I… a mock version of the trio.’
Constant replacement of the patriarchal father role within the family: almost humour within the sadness. Mock: not the same. Only character narrator calls by their actual name: separation, unacceptance.
‘The launch was still travelling over to him… Unstoppable, unsinkable along that invisible line.’
Cyclical structure: ending and beginning with the boat journey with the Grandfather, although the end is imagined. Metaphor: symbolic of their deep emotional connection. Grandfather kept alive in the narrator’s head through the memories and reminiscence of it all.
