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Originally Posted by
Dark Muse
The lines in bold here bothered me a bit. Though perhaps I am just being nit picky, but I kept wondering to myself, just what was the significance, of the fact that the women were on their way home to cook dinner.
I think later, DM, you actually answer this yourself. I think also Lawrence means to set the stage of a kind of 'gossipy' neighborhood surroundings. People 'talk' and in particular, this will come out stronger with the shame of someone (in this case her younger sister) having given birth to a child 'out of wedlock.' I think that the school teacher's character is closely being grouped with this family, who are now dainted with shame; the onlookers are like the towns people in the "Scarlet Letter." Indeed their activities are presented as normal in contrast to the disfunctional family that this woman is associated with.
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I did not like the fact, that it seemed like it was just a random detail thrown in the story. Why did the reader need to know this?
I think we now have established it does have it's precise purpose and is not random; nor a mere detail of no significance. Lawrence grew up in neighborhoods like this and he knew the way common people could gossip and talk about their neighbors.
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So I really want these lines to have some purpose in the overall story, though perhaps I am trying to stretch things too far.
They do have meaning; I don't think you are stretching things one bit. These opening passages set the scene/atmosphere and the fact that the family is now a sort of outcast unit, in the eyes of their neighbors and the town's people.
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But I thought perhaps these two women were meant to sort of offset against the abnormalcy, of dysfunctional family and life of the Robtham's. They are more or less "normal" sense they are on their way to cook for their husbands, in contrast to Hilda.
I would agree with this contrast. You stated that well.
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Were both painful and comical at the same time. You can just picture these two biddies standing there gossiping behind Hilda's back as she passes them by before they rush off home. And I think Hilda is set up to be prideful and defiant in the face of such gossip. With her slow deliberate stride, and the way she "sails" down the street.
Yes, I thought so, too. I agree that "Hilda is set up to be prideful and defiant in the face of such gossip" - that is a good way of putting it. I like the wording of "sails' down the street"....and the part about "her slow deliberate stride." I will read over the passage again and see if I can pick out other defining words.
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I found the use of these lines to be interesting, and though when I first read it, I winced slightly because I thought the metaphor was perhaps just a bit overdone, but I liked the symbolism behind the words.
I especially noticed those lines and thought them poetic and I really liked the analogy or metaphor of the black swan.
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White sawns are often used as this image of purity, maidenhood, and innocence. So I liked this contrast of the black swan being like the black sheep of the family. The color of their feathers being their mark against them. And yet the birds are just as elegant and beautiful as their white cousins.
Good observation. I like what you wrote here.
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I found the whole exchange between Hilda and the Baker to be quite entertaining. Though I wondered why he was made to look like such an unhappy brute. I will try and coment more upon the rest of that part of the text once I have had time to mull it over some more.
I think it does make us wonder about the Baker and this adds some mystery to the story. Later on we do indeed get more insight into what significance he plays in the story. I like the fact that Lawrence only hints here at his part in the tale. I like how he presents him so that we have to think of why he reacts as he does to Hilda.
