MOTIF Flashcards
1
Q
Copies
A
- The motif of copies and copying begins with the students themselves, who are clones copied from models in the outside world.
- Cottages copy their gestures and mannerisms from what they watch on television, and sees Ruth copy her idea of a perfect future from a magazine ad.
- Copies reappear in Norfolk, where Kathy finds a copy of her lost tape after a disappointing search for Ruth’s “possible.”
- Kathy’s narrative is not a copy, but a complex and compelling account that is deeply personal to her experience.
2
Q
Pretending and Fantasy
A
- This motif recurs throughout the novel, where most of the characters participate in some form of pretending or fantasy.
- Hailsham itself is an elaborate act of pretending, signaled by the “sham” embedded in its name. In order to shield students from their future
- Ruth’s childhood make-believe games at Hailsham are another form of pretending, a fantasy in which she has control of secret information that others do not.
- the students engage in various fantasies about the future, such as Ruth’s dream of working in an office and the rumored deferrals on donations.
- These fantasies become increasingly limited as time goes on, until Kathy is left alone with just the fantasy of Tommy on the horizon.
3
Q
Lost and Found
A
- This recurring motif begins with Miss Emily’s description of Norfolk as a “lost corner,” which causes the students to imagine that all lost property found in England winds up in Norfolk
- kathys tape
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