Harvest

Question 1

Theme - Social Hierarchies and Class

Answer 1

• the novel explores the rigid class structures within rural communities, highlighting tensions between landowners and labourers
• shift to sheep farming reflects the displacement of working class

Question 2

Theme - Land ownership and Enclosures

Answer 2

• enclosures (central political issue in the novel) signify the privatisation of land, disrupting traditional communal living

Question 3

Theme - Community and outsiders

Answer 3

• the arrival of strangers disrupts the village’s harmony and exposes underlying fears and prejudices
• themes of scapegoating, xenophobia and collective violence illustrate how communities act under stress

Question 4

Theme - power, authority and justice

Answer 4

• the treatment of the strangers and the villagers punishment highlight the misuse of power by landowners and the fragility of justice
• Master Kent’s authority contrasts with Jordans, representing different approaches to governance and exploitation

Question 5

Theme - environmental and economic change

Answer 5

• the transition from crop farming to sheep farming critiques industrialisation and its impact on traditional ways of life
• environmental destruction mirrors the erosion of social bonds

Question 6

Walter Thirsk

Answer 6

• narrator and moral observer, torn between loyalty and his connection to the landowners
• his reflective tone highlights the loss of innocence and tradition

Question 7

Master Kent

Answer 7

• the landowner who initially appears sympathetic but is complicit in exploitation and displacement of the villagers

Question 8

Master Jordan

Answer 8

• represents the forces of modernisation, enclosure and capitalism
• cold, calculating, ruthless -> he embodies the socio-political changes overtaking rural England

Question 9

The Strangers

Answer 9

• symbolise the “other” and are scapegoated by the villagers
• their treatment reveals the destructive potential of fear and prejustice

Question 10

First-Person Narrative

Answer 10

• Walter’s perspective offers a limited but deeply personal account of the village’s collapse, blending nostalgia with critique

Question 11

Symbolism and Allegory

Answer 11

• the novel uses the village as a microcosm to explore universal themes of change, displacement and power

Question 12

Tension and Pacing

Answer 12

• the narrative begins with a harvest celebration and slowly unravels into chaos, reflecting the disintegration of the village

Question 13

Historical Context

Answer 13

• set during the transition from feudal systems to enclosure movement in England (16th-18th centuries)
• reflects Crace’s interest in exploring the human cost of economic and environmental change