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Home. Iain Crichton Smith. Features to Consider:. Characterisation Setting Language Key incident(s) Climax / turning point Plot Structure Narrative Technique Theme Ideas Description. Characterisation. Main characters: Mr & Mrs Jackson Snobby / rags to riches
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Home Iain Crichton Smith
Features to Consider: • Characterisation • Setting • Language • Key incident(s) • Climax / turning point • Plot • Structure • Narrative Technique • Theme • Ideas • Description
Characterisation • Main characters: Mr & Mrs Jackson • Snobby / rags to riches • Evidence of wealth (fur coat / posh car) • Look down on those left behind (‘had the guts to travel’) • Fall out but also look out for each other • Conflict between them highlights theme of story • Minor characters: The Jamiesons, the factor, Nicky & Charlie • Jamiesons – domestic violence / petty religious arguments / heavy drinking • The factor – tight with money / unsympathetic • Nicky & Charlie (‘punks’) – threatening / potentially violent. Tell the Jacksons they don’t belong (‘tourists’). Represent the change in the neighbourhood.
Setting • WHERE • Glasgow (mentions Clyde / references to gang culture – graffiti / blades / language / tenements • WHEN • 1970s (shipbuilding / picture house / moustaches / overt racism)
Language • “Her face has a haggard...desiccated gypsy” (describing Mrs Jackson) – SIMILE • “like a victorious gladiator” SIMILE (Mr Jamieson) • “supermarkets...flexing huge muscles” PERSONIFICATION • “car bulging like a black wave” SIMILE • “his wallet bulged” WORD CHOICE
Language • “with a hungry look as if he were scanning the veldt” SIMILE • “the flat-faced shops looked at them blankly” PERSONIFICATION • “her repertoire of invention was endless” WORD CHOICE • “lost its atmosphere of pastoral carelessness...literate slogans in flowers” JUXTAPOSITION
Language • “...as if even giving away words were an agony of the spirit.” WORD CHOICE • “the dispirited receptionist in the glass cage” METAPHOR • “The wee nyaff. The Scottish words rose unbidden to his mouth like bile.” SIMILE • “The interior of the cinema came back to him in a warm flood.” METAPHOR • “Remember it was me who drove you to the top.” (LITERAL AND METAPHORICAL) • “...like a bull wounded in the arena.” SIMILE • “...dirty boys and girls...all dead and rotting...” WORD CHOICE
Language • “...surrounded by a pack of children...an empress surrounded by prairie dogs.” METAPHOR / WORD CHOICE • “..the voice which was like a saw that would cut through steel forever.” SIMILE • “...no space in this bloody country. Everybody crowded like rats.” SIMILE • “in a place much like Africa, the bar of a first class hotel.” PARADOX • “his car bulging like a black wave.” ALLITERATION / SIMILE
Key Incidents • Reminiscing at the tenements • Mr Jackson’s encounter with the factor (flashback) • The couple argue and Mrs Jackson returns to car • Mr Jackson threatened by youths • They go ‘home’ to the hotel
Climax / Turning Point • When Jackson is told by youths to get out of their neighbourhood. The Jacksons are called ‘tourists’ although they used to live there.
Plot • Couple arrive at the tenement in Glasgow. • They reminisce and disagree • Realise they don’t belong / encounter the youths • They go to a hotel • Mr Jackson realises his true home is Africa (paradox at end of story)
Structure • Mainly chronological • Use of flashbacks (contrast of past and present / poor and rich)
Narrative Technique • Third person narrative • Flashbacks from Mr Jackson’s point of view • We get an objective view of the Jacksons and their views of ‘home’ – hear both their points of view
Themes • Belonging • Change • Home • Racism
Ideas • Where is home? Once left, you should can never go back? • Whose memories are more reliable? • Success – does it bring happiness / contentedness? • Religion / sectarianism & associated violence • Domestic violence / alcohol abuse • Gangs / disrespectful youths • Class / roles within society • Racism • Colonial views • Cultural identity / language / background – still there when you scratch the surface. It cannot be ignored • Money doesn’t bring happiness
Description • Characters (appearance, belongings, reactions, thoughts and feelings) • Setting (time / place / atmosphere) • Attitudes (speech and actions reveal characters’ attitudes • Wealthy lifestyle of the Jacksons / rougher, working-class existence of the tenement residents • Differences / contrasts between Africa & Glasgow / Jacksons and their old neighbours • Of setting (time and place / atmosphere)