The Darkness Out There, Penelope Lively (SS) Flashcards
Mid-point
“Mrs Rutter licked her lips; she looked across at them, her eyes darting”
A01
Lively describes Mrs Rutter as she tells the children of the German boy she found but left to die in the war
A02
Salivating lupine L sounds conjure up visions of a beast prowlling on the hunt linking to the cyclical theme of Little Red Riding Hood
Sinister use of the caesura to create silence and an ominous pause IAAI she is about to gobble up Sandra’s innocence in this macabre take on the fairy tale.
A03
Lively is trying to warn the readers about the dangers of judging people at face value and plays upon the stereotype that old women are harmless.
Exposition
“She walked through flowers, the girl, ox-eye daisies and vetch and cow parsley,”
Pepper
“keeping to the track at the edge of the field”
it implies Sandra is young , innocent and oblivious to the outside world so sticks to the predetermined path made out for her.
A01
The narrator describes the main character, Sandra, walking through the field to the old people’s home to see Mrs Rutter
A02
**Infantile noun “girl” **implies the girl is innocent and naive, unaware of the evils of the world further backed by the idealised floral image of the “daisies”
The ominous foreshadowing caused by the “vetch”, a harmful weed, signals the gloomy walk back thorugh the fields after she has seen Mrs Rutter and her childish view of the world has crumbled and been tainted by the ‘weeds’ of the world.
A03
Contexually, readers may think of Sandra as a modernised Red Riding Hood as the story centers around a dark wood and follows the protagonist’s frightful journey for moral growth.
Denouement
“Flowers sparkle and birds sing but everything is not as it seems, oh no.”
A01
After visiting Mrs Rutter and hearing her disturbing war story Sandra sees the world in a new much harsher light
A02
repeated motif of “flowers” from the exposition, they reflect her innocence and remind the reader of the juxtaposition between the two scenes and how Sandra has undergone extensive character growth and matured resulting in the loss of her naivety.
The tone of despair caused by the interjection “oh no” signifies Sandra’s realisation of the change within herself and the inevitable consequences of growing up.
A03
The author may want to highlight how this also applies to modern day children and teens as they are forced to grow up and mature far quicker than in the past due to social media.
