Small Island- Key Extracts Flashcards
List the comic elements of Hortense and Gilbert’s wedding night:
She sees Gilbert as a buffoon- ‘The man poked his wet slippery tongue…’,
‘…wriggling organ…’,
Disorder- ‘I bit his hand…’
Clown- ‘hopping around the room like a jackass’
Small problem with a resolution: she forgives his behaviour or seems to when he calls her ‘Miss Mucky Foot’
List the comedic language used in Hortense and Gilbert’s wedding night.
Hortenses narrative voice:
Clear disgust, ‘I was going nowhere near that thing.’, ‘over his disgustingness’
Description shows us her shock/discomfort
simile/imagery, ‘naked as adam’, ‘rising up like a snake charmed’, ‘rigid as a tree trunk’, ‘like rotting ackees’
Personification- ‘tapping on me as a finger would’
Triplets- ‘deflating, sagging, drooping’
Hyperbole
‘Then this hideous predicament between his legs was without doubt the work of the devil.’
How is Gilbert and Hortense’s wedding night comedic?
Subverts the structure of a comic novel because they ought to fall in love and marry at the end but instead they’ve struck a ‘deal’ and when Gilbert tries to consummate the marriage Hortense is far from interested.
Creates a problem that must be solved later on.
Hortense’s disgust in her situation is clearly meant to be humorous, not sinister.
The whole section is a clear example of bedroom farce.
What are the aspects of context of Gilbert and Hortense’s wedding night?
‘Sail to the mother country for us both’ - this is the night before he emigrated to England from Jamaica.
She’s bought his ticket to England, so he can pursue his aspiration to be a lawyer. He has already been in England in the RAF, he returns to Jamaica at the end of the war expecting glory and respect but ends up with Elwood trying to persuade him to join his honey farm money making scheme. Realising that’s not for him, he seeks to return to England to pursue his dream. The only way to get back is for Hortense to pay for his ticket on the Windrush.
What are the comedic elements of the race riot and Arthur’s death?
Confusion: ‘But there are seats here’- Queenie
Disorder: ‘Someone jumped on my back’
Misunderstanding: “Rules, what rules?”’She had me confused now’- Gilbert.
How does the race riots and Arthur’s death relate to comedy?
This aligns with the structure of comedy as the confusion between who’s arguing with who causes the whole riots to erupt. Gilbert also wants Queenie to calm down but she still argues with the GI’s which ultimately leads to Arthur’s unjust death through the confusion of who is fighting with who, as Arthur is not involved in the arguing or fighting at all. However, this may not fit with the comic aspect as this misunderstanding is dangerous as it causes Arthur’s mistaken death.
This whole section shows the consequences of simple misunderstandings as a conversation between Queenie and Gilbert between the ticketwoman leads to the death of Arthur.
What are the language features present in the section? (Race riots + Arthur’s death)
Gilbert narrating the race riots:
Throughout the whole section:
‘Someone jumped on my back’
‘Someone’- Gilbert has no idea who is attacking him, at this point, anyone is attacking anyone, no matter their involvement.
‘Rules, what rules?’- The question mark indicates Gilbert’s confusion with the rules segregating him to the back of the cinema, ‘there is no Jim Crow in this country’
‘But there are seats here’- this further reinforces Queenie’s confusion and her lack of ability to comprehend the situation. Interrogative tone.
What are the aspects of context that arise from the riots?
‘There is no Jim Crow in this country’- this highlights Gilbert’s naivety as there aren’t in England but racism is still prevalent in the country and the fact that there are American GI’s who are used to the laws and treating Gilbert that way
What are the aspects of comedy in Gilbert’s dream of leaving Jamaica and Hortense’s offer?
Journeys:
‘I was a giant living on land no bigger than the soles on my shoes’- Gilbert
‘The palm trees… were my prison bars’- Gilbert
‘I went to sit under the refuge of the guango tree’- Gilbert
What are the language features of these quotes (Dream of leaving Jamaica + Hortense’s offer)
‘I was a giant living on land no bigger than the soles on my shoes’- Shows Gilbert feels that he has no opportunities in Jamacia compared to the ‘Mother Country’, he feels like he doesn’t belong there and uses a simile to reiterate his feeling of disappointment.
‘The palm trees… were my prison bars’- Imagery of ‘prison bars’ shows that Gilbert feels he is trapped in Jamacia, but also along with the beauty of ‘the palm trees’ still shows he loves the country but feels he could do more if he explored the world.
‘I went to sit under the refuge of the guango tree’- Indicates he feels safe with the nature of Jamacia, it’s his only escape from the country he wants to escape from.
What are the aspects of context that arise from this part of the text? (Leaving Jamaica + Hortense’s offer)
Many Jamacian’s wanted to travel to England for better job opportunities and a better life and here Gilbert represents their feelings of entrapment but also their dreams to move to Englad -> Empire Windrush.
Additionally, his education centered around Britian has brought him up to believe that England is like a dream come true, but when Gilbert finally gets there it’s a harsh reality.
What aspects of comedy are present in Queenie’s description of Bernard?
Comic language
Clowns, fools and buffoons
What language features are present in Queenie’s description?
‘I began to hate the back of his neck’
‘Bony and scrawny’- negative adjectives
‘Enough to put me off my sandwiches’
‘Is it normal?’
‘It made him look really queer’
Constant vulgar description, in addition to strong adjectives such as hate which people who are in love would never dream of using when describing their loved one.
What are the aspects of context that arise from this description of Bernard?
‘Queer’ context of the time- turned slowly into a derogatory term towards people that had ‘unusual’ views regarding their sexuality.
What are the comic aspects in Queenie’s job and how she helps people?
Journey: How Queenie transforms her view, she lives with Bernard who dislikes her helping out these people, and has developed to helping people no matter what race or social class they are, eg. taking in Gilbert and Hortense and helping out the people who have been bombed.
Heroine: Queenie’s job consists of helping people and she is seen as a heroine for supporting people, however, her narrative voice is somewhat in a sense of disgust, which creates a double meaning, she does want to help them, but yet she still uses a slight diminishing tone- can be seen as ironic.
