Have you ever felt the urge to discover a deeper sense of identity? I learnt that discoveries can create a sense of emotion, confrontation and provocation in which you might, rediscover something or gain new perceptions of yourself and others. The prose fiction novel, ‘Swallow the Air’, follows the main character of May Gibson who through searching to discover a sense of identity and through self-discovery, she has renewed perceptions of herself and others. The poem called, ‘What Is Identity?’, by Mandy Lee, includes similar themes of self-discovery.
To start off, in the first chapter, ‘Swallow the Air’, the main character, May Gibson, discovered that her mother was heavily depressed and eventually lost the will to live and killed herself. …show more content…
The motif of suffering demonstrates what an emotionally, confronting and provocative discovery, the death of her mum is to May.
To add, anacoluthon is used to emphasise the word ‘remember’ through a dramatic pause in, “Salt water smeared her handwriting of black marker – remember. And I knew it was all right not to forget.” May gains a new perception of her ability to deal with a terrible situation in antithesis to the expected reaction when she realises that it’s ok to remember something so confronting. These passages explain how she admires and cares for her mother.
Furthermore, as May continues her search to discover identity through family, the chapter entitled ‘Territory’, sees May hitch a ride towards Darwin. On the way, she saw her father and discovered that he was very much the monster that she remembered from early childhood. As she was separated from her father, she had the urge to meet him. However, this urge was supressed by the memories that reaffirmed her perception of him. She had a negative perception of him because he would physically abuse her mother …show more content…
The simile that follows, “He had a hand like a claw, so full of engorged veins and leather welted skin, so strong and like his face that hung mirroring the ravaged” reinforces that May has reaffirmed her perception of him as someone whom she does not want as part of her sense of identity. It is a confronting discovery for her.
The rhetorical question, “How could I forget him?” completes her assessment of how true her memories were of him and the reader discovers as does May that it would be a mistake to allow him back into her life. This is a strong self-discovery for May about who is important to her for a sense of identity.
The related text, ‘What is Identity?’, by Mandy Lee is a poem that has similar themes of self-discovery to, ‘Swallow the Air’. The techniques used to portray these themes are anaphora, symbolism, and metaphor. The anaphoric use of ‘it’ is shown in, “It is a song; it is a quest, it is a journey and its trials. It is not the continual burning of a flame, it is but the choices that you wrought…”. The word “it” declares the need to take a journey to discover your own sense of
To start off, in the first chapter, ‘Swallow the Air’, the main character, May Gibson, discovered that her mother was heavily depressed and eventually lost the will to live and killed herself. …show more content…
The motif of suffering demonstrates what an emotionally, confronting and provocative discovery, the death of her mum is to May.
To add, anacoluthon is used to emphasise the word ‘remember’ through a dramatic pause in, “Salt water smeared her handwriting of black marker – remember. And I knew it was all right not to forget.” May gains a new perception of her ability to deal with a terrible situation in antithesis to the expected reaction when she realises that it’s ok to remember something so confronting. These passages explain how she admires and cares for her mother.
Furthermore, as May continues her search to discover identity through family, the chapter entitled ‘Territory’, sees May hitch a ride towards Darwin. On the way, she saw her father and discovered that he was very much the monster that she remembered from early childhood. As she was separated from her father, she had the urge to meet him. However, this urge was supressed by the memories that reaffirmed her perception of him. She had a negative perception of him because he would physically abuse her mother …show more content…
The simile that follows, “He had a hand like a claw, so full of engorged veins and leather welted skin, so strong and like his face that hung mirroring the ravaged” reinforces that May has reaffirmed her perception of him as someone whom she does not want as part of her sense of identity. It is a confronting discovery for her.
The rhetorical question, “How could I forget him?” completes her assessment of how true her memories were of him and the reader discovers as does May that it would be a mistake to allow him back into her life. This is a strong self-discovery for May about who is important to her for a sense of identity.
The related text, ‘What is Identity?’, by Mandy Lee is a poem that has similar themes of self-discovery to, ‘Swallow the Air’. The techniques used to portray these themes are anaphora, symbolism, and metaphor. The anaphoric use of ‘it’ is shown in, “It is a song; it is a quest, it is a journey and its trials. It is not the continual burning of a flame, it is but the choices that you wrought…”. The word “it” declares the need to take a journey to discover your own sense of