Mount Pleasant
“Mount Pleasant” is a story about the little girl Elizabeth, who moves to a new house with her fami-ly consisting of Elizabeth, her sister Lena, their parents and “Big Alec”. Mary-Louise Buxton wrote the short story 2005. Elizabeth, who thinks the house is haunted, tells the story. It is hinted that she and her sister is being abused, but it is never told directly. The story is told through the eyes of a child and therefor the main theme is “life as a child”.
The story has a first person narrator. It is told by the child Elizabeth, which the author probably chose specific to show the world through a child’s eyes and mind. The narrator is an explicit first person narrator, which means our knowledge is limited to what Elizabeth …show more content…
It is supported by the choice of narrator and the imaginative thoughts of Elizabeth. The process of growing up has its ups and downs, but some parts of the story could indicate, that Elizabeth has a harder time than most children. “Mammy’ll take to me with a wooden spoon if she catches me up in the attic.”(P.1 L.1). This very first sentence of the story indi-cates that her mother might be abusive. The theory is supported by other parts of the story. “Mam-my looks mean around the table for someone else to pick on.”(P.3 L.77-78), “Mammy battered us both all the way home.”(P.3 L.95-96), “Mammy bangs my cereal dish so hard down on to the table, the milk spills over on to the cloth. I’m glad she did that and not me.” (P.2 L.42-43). All the quotes are examples of the mother being intense. It is never directly said, “Mammy is hitting me” or “Mammy is abusing me”, but there are quotes indicating that she might be violent either psychical or psychological. On the other hand a little girl is telling the story, and children have a tendency to exaggerate things, so the mother could also just be fairly …show more content…
She keeps hearing the house squeak and she finds a photo of a little boy who probably lived there previously. “In bed that night, I hear somebody fall and the noise of the beams holding the house up jolting hard, creaking in the wind. I can just about see the outline of our bedroom door ajar in the dark. Draughts make it rattle in the frame, groaning open and slamming back quick on its hinges. But I couldn’t move myself to close it if I wanted to. I can feel the weight of somebody sitting on the bed, somebody watching.”(P.5 L.166-170). The quote is an episode described in the ending. Elizabeth is in her bed and she thinks a ghost is visiting her room. It sums up her thoughts of the haunted new house, but it is hard to tell whether she is telling the truth or she is imagining it. It is another exam-ple of how children’s reliability is a big part of the story, because her imagination is bigger than adult’s.
“Mount Pleasant” is a story by Mary-Louise Buxton who is telling a story through the eyes of a child. Elizabeth is the main character and also the narrator, and her imagination and childlike look at things creates a story, where the reader can’t be sure whether she is telling the truth or exaggerat-ing things. The main theme is “Life as a child”, and it is supported by Elizabeth’s storytelling and her use of words. The story shows how life is when you are
“Mount Pleasant” is a story about the little girl Elizabeth, who moves to a new house with her fami-ly consisting of Elizabeth, her sister Lena, their parents and “Big Alec”. Mary-Louise Buxton wrote the short story 2005. Elizabeth, who thinks the house is haunted, tells the story. It is hinted that she and her sister is being abused, but it is never told directly. The story is told through the eyes of a child and therefor the main theme is “life as a child”.
The story has a first person narrator. It is told by the child Elizabeth, which the author probably chose specific to show the world through a child’s eyes and mind. The narrator is an explicit first person narrator, which means our knowledge is limited to what Elizabeth …show more content…
It is supported by the choice of narrator and the imaginative thoughts of Elizabeth. The process of growing up has its ups and downs, but some parts of the story could indicate, that Elizabeth has a harder time than most children. “Mammy’ll take to me with a wooden spoon if she catches me up in the attic.”(P.1 L.1). This very first sentence of the story indi-cates that her mother might be abusive. The theory is supported by other parts of the story. “Mam-my looks mean around the table for someone else to pick on.”(P.3 L.77-78), “Mammy battered us both all the way home.”(P.3 L.95-96), “Mammy bangs my cereal dish so hard down on to the table, the milk spills over on to the cloth. I’m glad she did that and not me.” (P.2 L.42-43). All the quotes are examples of the mother being intense. It is never directly said, “Mammy is hitting me” or “Mammy is abusing me”, but there are quotes indicating that she might be violent either psychical or psychological. On the other hand a little girl is telling the story, and children have a tendency to exaggerate things, so the mother could also just be fairly …show more content…
She keeps hearing the house squeak and she finds a photo of a little boy who probably lived there previously. “In bed that night, I hear somebody fall and the noise of the beams holding the house up jolting hard, creaking in the wind. I can just about see the outline of our bedroom door ajar in the dark. Draughts make it rattle in the frame, groaning open and slamming back quick on its hinges. But I couldn’t move myself to close it if I wanted to. I can feel the weight of somebody sitting on the bed, somebody watching.”(P.5 L.166-170). The quote is an episode described in the ending. Elizabeth is in her bed and she thinks a ghost is visiting her room. It sums up her thoughts of the haunted new house, but it is hard to tell whether she is telling the truth or she is imagining it. It is another exam-ple of how children’s reliability is a big part of the story, because her imagination is bigger than adult’s.
“Mount Pleasant” is a story by Mary-Louise Buxton who is telling a story through the eyes of a child. Elizabeth is the main character and also the narrator, and her imagination and childlike look at things creates a story, where the reader can’t be sure whether she is telling the truth or exaggerat-ing things. The main theme is “Life as a child”, and it is supported by Elizabeth’s storytelling and her use of words. The story shows how life is when you are