Small Island: Freedom/Opportunity

Question 1

‘_____________ _______ in England as ________ as the _____ on ________ trees’

Answer 1

‘Opportunity ripened in England as abundant as fruit on Jamaican trees’

• Use of simile to compare/ highlight contrast between England and Jamaica
• Shows hopes and dreams in host country
• Gilbert describes England positively + seems restless

Question 2

‘I would soon be ______ in _________ and able to ____ ___ above these people’

Answer 2

‘I would soon be living in England and able to rise far above these people’

• Hortense associates sense of superiority with mother country + looks forward to her new home
• She will be able to look down upon those she views as inferior

Question 3

‘I will ____ the ____ in this ______ when I am in ___________’

‘When I ________ this _________ I did not hear a ____’

Answer 3

‘I will ring the bell in this house when I am in England’ (Celia)

‘When I pressed this doorbell I did not hear a ring’ (Hortense)

• Recurring motif of doors/doorbells throughout whole
• Bell = represents freedom, opportunity/gains
• Newcomers stand at the door/threshold willing to integrate
• Ringing the bell allows newcomers to enter the threshold of British society through the door

Answer 4

‘Having a passage between fixed identifications opens up the possibilities of cultural hybridity that entertains difference without imposed hierarchy’

• Opening doors removes hierarchies, everyone can move between locations/cultures

Homi K Bhabha (may move this to a different theme)