Option Two – General vision and viewpoint


Comparative study: General vision and viewpoint Never Let Me Go


Brooklyn


The general vision and viewpoint of this dystopian novel is not clearly established at the outset, but a series of rather puzzling elements gradually lead us to feel uneasy and even shocked as the dreadful reality is revealed.


Kathy’s narration opens on a seemingly upbeat note. She is pleased that she has been a carer for so long and that she and her employers are happy with her work. At first glance, this may seem a positive account of Kathy’s career, but on closer reading there are a few disturbing elements. For example, Kathy tells us she is 31 but is nearing the end of her working life, and there is an ominous mention of a ‘fourth donation’ that generally distresses the donors. The word ‘donation’ implies a voluntary act, so why should donors be unwell and distressed? And why should Kathy feel that her working life is coming to an end at such a young age?


The offhand way Kathy refers to ‘donors’ and ‘carers’ reinforces the unease that pervades the opening section of the novel. It is obvious that the world in which she lives has accepted this as a norm that needs no explanation. Early in the opening chapter, Kathy says that she understands why other carers ‘might get resentful’ of the fact that she has a bedsit, a car and some control over her working life. Few readers would feel envious of such a simple lifestyle, so Kathy’s mention of this suggests that most of her fellow carers live far worse lives. The author’s viewpoint is that the world of the text is harsh and there are few rewards for those who devote themselves to helping others.


In the novel, the initial mood of positivity soon changes to negativity, while the opposite happens in Brooklyn. Unlike the upbeat note at the start of Never Let Me Go, the opening of Brooklyn is bleak and depressing. The film begins with Eilis walking down a dark, narrow street to enter the near-darkness of a church. She is bored and tired during the Mass; her stifled yawn draws a swift reproving look from Miss Kelly, Eilis’s unpleasant employer.


However, unlike the novel, in which initial optimism gradually gives way to uneasy pessimism, Eilis’s situation becomes increasingly hopeful. Admittedly, there is sadness in her having to leave her beloved mother and sister when she emigrates, but this is tempered by the constant reminders of the limitations of life in Ireland. As she looks at Eilis’s packed case, Rose is dismayed by how few belongings Eilis has and she wishes she could have done more for her sister. But she has done a great deal by arranging for Eilis to have a new start in America. While life in Ireland is difficult, there is a chance for Eilis to escape, which is not possible for the characters in Never Let Me Go.


Eilis’s situation improves once she is taken under the wing of Georgina, her cabinmate. Unlike the characters in Never Let Me Go who are resentful of others’ success, Georgina represents those who are delighted to see fellow emigrants making the most of their lives. This makes the general vision and viewpoint in the opening of Brooklyn far more positive than that in Never Let Me Go. This mood is consolidated when Eilis walks through the immigration gates to her new life and is bathed in a blindingly bright light, symbolising her positive new start.


Philadelphia, Here I Come! The opening of a text can play an important role in establishing the general vision and viewpoint.


The opening of Philadelphia, Here I Come! quickly establishes the pessimistic general vision and viewpoint. Gar, like Eilis, is on the brink of emigrating to America, but his situation is far bleaker than hers. Whereas Eilis has the support of a loving family and even a stranger she meets on the ship, Gar is far more isolated. Certainly, Madge, the housekeeper, cares for him but she does not openly display her affection. The dominant relationship in the play is between Gar and his father. This relationship is introduced almost immediately and is firmly established as the most negative aspect of the play. Gar tells Madge that on his last day at work in his father’s shop he had to work an extra ten minutes and that there was no mention of his impending departure. In the novel and the film, the general vision and viewpoint is more gradually introduced than it is in the play. From the moment Gar begins speaking about his father and we observe the ‘surly taciturn gruffness’ with which he addresses the older man, we have little hope for any sort of positive resolution.


For Eilis, life in America represents a new beginning, but for Gar it is the end. Alone in his room, Public Gar says, ‘It’s all over,’ and Private replies, ‘And it’s all about to begin. It’s all over’. What Private means by this is that although Gar’s life in Ballybeg is over, the cycle of dysfunctional relationships is doomed to begin again when he moves in with his aunt and uncle in Philadelphia. Like Never Let Me Go, this sense of an ending at such an early stage in the play leaves us feeling uneasy and pessimistic.


Leaving Certificate English 431 Excellence in Texts


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