The Telegram Flashcards
Key Quotation 1
“They were like two birds, one a fat domestic bird perhaps the other more aquiline, more gaunt, or, to be precise, more like a buzzard.”
Key Quotation 1: Analysis
Use of bird simile highlights contrast between the women, “domestic” suggests comfort and that she belongs there because she’s a native as well as empathizing her large shape.
The word choice of “Aquiline” highlights the sharpness of the thin women and the comparison to the bird of prey suggests she looks down on the fat woman along with the other women in the village constantly vigilant to survive.
Key Quotation 2
“It came on them as a strange plague, taking their sons away and then killing them, meaninglessly and randomly.”
Key Quotation 2: Analysis
Effective simile used by comparing the destructiveness of war to a plague just as a plague is an insidious infectious disease which people are scared to catch because it kills them so too is the destructiveness of war which causes people to be afraid and results in death.
Key Quotation 3:
“People began to think of the telegram as a strange missile pointed at them from abroad”
Key Quotation 3: Analysis
By using the imagery of “missile” a weapon of mass destruction that’s aimed at a target to convey the efffects of the yellow telegram on a household and it’s families just as a missile destroys its target so too does the telegram.
Key Quotation 4:
“it was a weapon that left desolation just like any other weapon”
Key Quotation 4: Analysis
Word Choice of “desolation” highlights destructiveness and lasting aftermath effects which it incurs.
Key Quotation 5:
“The fat woman’s cow used to eat the thin woman’s washing”
Key Quotation 5: Analysis
This incident seen as typical of the small petty squabble dramas which are prevalent in such a small rural community however contrasts with the darkness of war”
Key Quotation 6:
“This war a bare village with little colour and therefore the yellow was both strange and unnatural”
Key Quotation 6: Analysis
The word choice of “bare” suggests a sparsely populated village and that not much happens there. Moreover, because there’s little colour it standouts against the dullness of the village contrasting against the elders black clothes too. The word choice of both “strange” and “unnatural” highlights supernatural weird element of telegram.
Key Quotation 7:
“They were both frightened for he could be coming for their house”
Key Quotation 7: Analysis
The WC of “frightened” highlights to the reader just how scared the women are however the WC of “both” shows this is a shared feature however it isn’t unique to them as the impact of war is felt by whole communities.
Key Quotation 8:
“They looked at each other wildly. It must be on of them. Surely.
Key Quotation 8: Analysis
3 short blunt sentences used here this structure emphasis women shock and terror. WC of “wildly” suggests an animalistic fear once again drawing on nature to describe the women.
Key Quotation 9:
“He didn’t mix with people and he always carried the Bible into the pulpit for the minister”
Key Quotation 9: Analysis
The importance of the church throughout community and the fact that he doesn’t socialize much highlights that the minister is insular just like most of the villages inhabitants. He appears proud to be the bearer of the telegram at least that’s what the prejudiced fat women believes.
Key Quotation 10:
“She felt the arm of the thin woman around her shoulders, the thin arm, and it was like first love.”
Key Quotation 10: Analysis
The fat woman puts aside her prejudice momentarily as she is able to appreciate the thin woman’s compassionate side at attempting to console her.
Repletion of “thin” highlights women’s thinness.
Key Quotation 11:
“So unexpected, so strange, so much a gift”
Key Quotation 11: Analysis
Sentence harness power of three and the repetion of “so” draws the readers attention to this being a key point in the story change in the women’s relationship.
WC of “gift” emphasizes the significance of the moment.
Key Quotation 12:
“She saw the year of discipline, she remembered how thin and unfed and pale the thin woman had always looked.”
Key Quotation 12: Analysis
The use of “thin”, “unfed” and “pale” highlights the sacrifices that the thin women has made for her son.
