Guiseppe

Question 1

My Uncle Giuseppe told me 

that in Sicily in World War Two, 

in the courtyard behind the aquarium, 

where the bougainvillea grows so well, 

the only captive mermaid in the world 

was butchered on the dry and dusty ground 

by a doctor, a fishmonger, and certain others. 

Answer 1

‘My Uncle Giuseppe’
Uncle - Only one generation away
My - Possessive (sense of closeness)

‘Told me’
Embellished stories and lies 
Truth and Falsity

‘Sicily in WW2’
Framing the story in a true point in History / Historical realism
WW2 - Immorality / Atrocities and violence / There are two sides of war / Hating on the familiar like Hilter and the jews

‘Aquarium’
-Captivity

‘Bougainvillaea’
-This flower is foreign / not common to Sicily 

-’Grows so well’ able to adapt and grow within foreign space and territory 

‘Captive mermaid’
Juxtaposition / almost oxymoronic
‘Captive’ - controlled 
‘Mermaid’ - free moving / innocent 

‘Only’ - outsider 

‘Butchered’
/b/ - plosive / death / violence and brutish
Connotations of animals that are eaten

A mermaid is half fish half human 

The story is reframing it to be more like a fish and less human (dissociation)

‘Doctor, a fishmonger, and certain others’

Doctor - Human specialist / Understanding

Fishmonger - Fish specialist / Looking for profit 

Certain others - Everyone is involved and complicit in what occurs but they remain unnamed (Giuseppe)

Question 2

She, it, had never learned to speak 

because she was simple, or so they’d said, 

but the priest who held one of her hands 

while her throat was cut, 

said she was only a fish, and fish can’t speak. 

But she screamed like a woman in terrible fear. 

Answer 2

‘She, it,’ 
Caesura - Dehumanising 
-Human first and then now object/story is always shifting 
-Shifting to clear conscience ?

‘Never learned to speak

Because she was simple, or so they’d said.’

Speak and learn - verbs that carry connotations of human actions and attributes

Enjambment -> explanation 

Simple - stupidity / not intellectual / justifies the killing more / derogatory term  

Caesura -> change and deviation from the story / following clause may mean something else 

But the priest who held one of her hands 

But - Justification of killing

Priest - alignment to God / justification / honourable 

Hands - Human features and attributes / Complicit in the killing / could be offering moral support / or could be restraining the mermaid 

But she screamed like a woman in terrible fear

Simile - Woman like once again 

Scream - Humanly verbs and actions contrasting how she couldn’t speak / Contradictory information / what part of the story is true

Terrible fear 

Creates pathos 

Question 3

And when they took a ripe golden roe 

from her side, the doctor said 

this was proof she was just a fish 

and anyway an egg is not a child, 

but refused when some was offered to him. 

Answer 3

Ripe golden roe

‘Golden’ - precious / valuable 

‘Roe’ - food but also bearer of life 

Proof

-Scientific justification 

Anyway an egg is not a child

‘Anyway’ - Dismissive 

‘Child’ - infantises / innocence 

-More than just the mermaid is effected / everything is affected - innocent casualties  of war 

-Pregnancy

Question 4

Then they put her head and her hands 

in a box for burial 

and someone tried to take her wedding ring, 

but the others stopped him, 

and the ring stayed put. 

The rest they cooked and fed to the troops. 

They said a large fish had been found on the beach.

Answer 4

‘Head and her hands’

/h/ - humanising the mermaid again 

‘Box for burial’

Burial 

• Things that are hidden put away / kept in secret 

-Human tradition and activity 

‘Wedding ring’

Human attribute / little signs 

These are the things that are buried and hidden 

Mirroring retelling the atrocities of war / only saving the good parts / forgetting and suppressing the rest

‘Cooked and fed’ / ‘They say a large fish’

Justification of killing 

Question 5

Starvation forgives men many things, 

my uncle, the aquarium keeper, said, 

but couldn’t look me in the eye, 

for which I thank God.

Answer 5

Starvation forgives men many things

Justification for the atrocities of war 

Aquarium keeper… couldn’t look me in the eye

He is part of the others / He is complicity and feels guilty 

For which I thank God.

-Not passing on this generational guilt

God - atoning for sins