Analytical Essay om "In the National Gallery"

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In the National Gallery

A1

Gazing back into your past or looking ahead into your future is something common for us as humans. What images that emerge from the corners of the mind often has to do with age. In youth the views are dominated by carelessness and spontaneity, while in old age passion and intensity often dominate. All in all the two stages are very different from each other and when confronted often clash and get into conflict. This conflict instigated by the generation gap is also the heart of the matter in the short story In the National Gallery by Doris Lessing from 2007.

Her starter vi med en tragtindledning, der går fra det generelle til det konkrete i netop denne tekst - husk dette er en subjektiv betragtning, og der kan være mange andre tolkninger af teksten. Det vigtige er, at vælge en du kan underbygge med teksteksempler. Derudover er temaet slået an fra begyndelsen - fokus vil være på generationskonflikten, altså hvordan forskellige generationer kan have vanskeligheder ved at forstå hinanden og mødes.

Indledningen sætter et par nøgleord på temaet: carelessness and spontaneity sat over for passion and intensity. Indledningen fanger læseren uden at afsløre alt for meget, og giver denne lyst til at læse videre. Derudover bliver de mere faktuelle ting skrevet ind i indledningen som titel, årstal og forfatter, uden det bliver tørt og opremsende.

Told through a first person narrator we get a first hand view on group dynamics in a public space, London's National Gallery. The narrator, whose age, gender and appearance remain hidden from us as readers, watches, observes and comments on human interaction from a central position in

the gallery. He/she guides our perceptions and judgments through the disturbing and unsettling
events that we witness through his/her eyes. Disaster lurks beneath the surface at all times, or at

least that is the impression we are given.

What the onlooker is interested in is observing something familiar, and only one thing. “It should be already known to me” (Text 1, ll. 3-4). The choice falls on Stubbs' chestnut horse. As the painting is in the center of the gallery it also becomes the pivotal point of understanding the short story. More than just a horse in a painting, the narrator wants to observe people interacting. The people the narrator observes, or spies on from his position in the middle of the gallery, all deal

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with the painting of the horse in some way or another. Furthermore, the horse could be used to understand the various generations that interact in this public space.

Afsnittet skitserer ultra kort hvilken situation historien udspiller sig i, og tager derefter direkte fat på analysedelen. Første ting fra den analytiske værktøjskasse der bliver taget fat på er, point of view og narrator. Da disse ting er væsentlige for den videre analyse af historien, idet måden vi får indblik i situationen i galleriet, er gennem en første-persons fortæller. Analyse af fortælleren bliver der dog ikke gået helt i dybden med, da opgave A2 handler udelukkende om, hvordan første-personsfortælleren fungerer i denne historie. Fortælleren bliver karakteriseret,

og det bliver slået fast hvilken rolle han/hun har i historien – nemlig betragter eller spion.

Efter fortælleren er blevet skitseret, bliver en af de perspektiverende elementer inddraget, nemlig Stubbs' hest, Whistlejacket (picture 1). Billedet af hesten bliver præsenteret som udgangspunktet for at forstå temaet, nemlig generationernes konflikt, og fungerer derfor som rød tråd i gennem hele resten af analysen og fortolkningen.

The elderly gentleman is the first to deal with the painting, which he does in a very contemplating and knowledgeable way. He teaches a younger man, a son or a student, about Stubbs the painter and the painting itself. The older man is very passionate about the horse and tries to pass his interests on to his listener, but without success. The young man is not interested in listening quietly to art lectures, “the first man then flung out his hand, in a gesture of humorous resignation, and the young man snapped, “you can't make a silk purse out of me, I keep telling you”” (Text 1, ll.22-25). This encounter, vividly described and commented by the narrator, is the first clash of generations. The old man cannot understand the shallowness of his young listener and wants to offer him some of his own values. The horse can be seen as symbol of not only the old values, high art and painting, which the young man rejects, but also of a symbol of the old man himself, who is also rejected. He is passionate about the horse, maybe because he sees some of his former self in it. Whistlejacket which is the name of the horse, was a star racehorse in its day, and symbolizes masculinity, strength, sexuality, vitality and youth, all values the old man no longer possesses, but which he reminisces about.

Næste afsnit bliver åbnet med en topic sentence, der skitserer hvad afsnittet vil handle om.

Stubbs' hest bliver brugt som udgangspunkt i personkarakteristikken af den ældre mand og brugt til at belyse hvem han er, og hvordan han opfører sig. Temaet, generationer i konflikt,

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bliver her analyseret på og understøttet ved hjælp af et teksteksempel med citat ”you can't make a silk purse out of me.”. Den unge mand er ikke ligesom den ældre, og den ældre mand kan ikke ændre ham til noget han ikke er. Igen bliver hesten inddraget for at nuancere analysen og vise hvordan, at den er udgangspunktet for at forstå de forskellige generationer, og hvordan de tænker. Afsnittet slutter af med at lave en sammenligning af den ældre mand med selve hesten og de værdier den repræsenterer.

The young man is not the only one to reject the horse and thereby the elderly man. With the entrance of a group of French girls, another generation segment is represented. These, especially one girl, also rejects the horse, by falling asleep in front of it and laughing at it, “She sat herself up again, and yawned and looked at the great horse […] and she fell asleep” (Text 1, l. 62). Doris Lessing often works with contrasts, something that also can be seen in the contrast between the elderly man and the young girls. The girl, sleeping next to him, sets the old man on a nostalgic trip back to his own youth, where he gazes back on a fling he had with a young girl. The result of his nostalgic trip leads to the old man arguing for the fact that the young generation share the value of passion with the older generation, something his 'student' and the French girls earlier proved not to be the case. “The passions of little kids are just as strong as the grown-ups” (Text 1, l. 106).

What not only the young man proves, but also the behavior of the schoolgirls is that where as the old have passion and intensity the young are more careless and spontaneous, and the two generations therefore have trouble understanding each other and coming together.

Afsnittet bliver bundet sammen med det foregående afsnit med en topic sentence, der fortsætter analysen ved at kigge på hesten. Dette afsnit tager fat på karakteristikken af både hele den franske gruppe skolepiger, men især den ene franske pige. Personkarakteristikken af pigen er ligesom den ældre mand bundet op på Stubbs' hest. Ligesom den unge mand, afviser pigen hesten og derved den ældre mand og hans værdier. Forfatteren Doris Lessing bliver her også trukket ind over analysen, og der bliver derved demonstreret engelskfaglig viden. Temaet generationernes konflikt ligger til grund for analysen og fungerer som rød tråd sammen med Stubbs' hest. Ordene passion, intensity, careless og spontaneous er kursiveret, i det de er nøgleord og fungerer som rød tråd i essayet. Delkonklusionen på dette afsnit er, at selvom den ældre mand argumenterer for at de to generationer trods alt har noget tilfælles, er dette blevet modbevist af både den franske pige og den unge mand.

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The French girl is somewhat different than the rest of her group because she stands at a crossroad, between youth and adulthood. Not only is she the strongest in the group, “She was the boss girl in this group...” (Text 1, ll. 44), she is also on a path of maturation. It is obvious that she is intrigued by the painting of the horse (the old values), even though she is reluctant to admit it, and tries to hide it from the other girls by giggling. She could be compared to Robin Robertson's cat in Territorial. “She doesn't know I'm watching her [...] When she sees me she changes” (Text 3, l.1

and 7). The narrator watches her without her knowledge, and he/she is able to observe two

generations coming closer together – even though the narrator doesn't see it like that.

Dette afsnit tager fat på delkonklusionen fra sidste afsnit og nuancerer den en smule. Her fortsætter karakteristikken af den franske pige, med en uddybning af hvordan hun er på et bestemt udviklingstrin i sit liv, et sted mellem barn og voksen. Til at yderligere slå dette fast, bliver en af de perspektiverende tekster inddraget. I Territorial (Tekst 3) bliver en kat, der er i færd med at gennemgå en udvikling fra killing til selvstændig, voksen kat beskrevet, og dette kan sammenlignes, med det billede man får af den franske pige. Hun står ved en skillevej.

Stubbs' hest indgår stadig som en del af analysen og bliver brugt til til at vise hendes udvikling.

På den ene side går hun ikke op i hesten (de gamle/voksne værdier), i hvert fald ikke når

veninderne kigger, men på den anden side får hun dårlig samvittighed over at have grinet af den.

Instead of celebrating the fact that two generations might be coming closer together, and telling the reader about this, the unreliable narrator tries to guide our perceptions and judgments in a more negative direction, and jumps to conclusions about what is about to happen. This suggest that the narrator believes that generations should stay separated and not communicate with each other at all, “Oh no, I was thinking, he simply must not try and talk to her, attract her attention, impose herself. If he did, it was easy to imagine raised voices, ugly laughter, even an “incident” that could reach the newspapers. There was a wildness in the air, unexpressed, and raw and dangerous” (Text 1 ll.151-154). This whole situation could be interpreted completely differently.

Instead of a negative scenario, the man could reach the girl and she might be interested in hearing more about Stubbs' horse, as opposed to the young man, and the two generations would be closer to each other.

Ordantal: (898 words)

Side 5

Dette afsnit fungerer som konklusionen på essayet. Her bliver trådene samlet og resultatet af analysen bliver opstillet i form af en fortolkning. Fortolkningen er at fortælleren ikke nødvendigvis gengiver tingene som de reelt er, men i stedet prøver at præge læseren til at lave forhastede konklusioner på situationen. Selvom fortælleren i hvertfald tror på denne afstand imellem generationerne, bliver der lagt op til at den måske ikke er så stor alligevel. Et muligt scenarie var jo også at pigen faktisk var ved at blive interesseret i den ældre mands værdier

(hesten), og at de derfor kunne mødes om dette. Udover at afslutte essayet lægges der også i ovnen til det korte essay der skal følge A2. Der afsluttes med en konklusion om betydningen af fortælleren for fortolkningen af hovedessayet, som der så bliver arbejdet endnu mere med i A2.

På denne måde skaber man sammenhæng imellem de to opgaver, de hænger næsten sammen.

Dette er ikke altid muligt at gøre, men kan du finde en måde at binde de to opgaver sammen, er det en god ide.

Til sidst er der sat ordantal på essayet, så lærer og censor kan se, at man er inden for rammerne.

A2

As mentioned in the main essay above, the first person-narrator in the short story gives us a firsthand view on group dynamics in a public space. The narrator isn't revealed for us because

he/she is not important as a character. What is important is how he/she relays what is observed.

As the American poets and critics Kennedy and Gioia claim, “A first person narrator, however, often suggests a certain bias, especially when the narrator describes events and which he or she played a part” (page 1). The events in the gallery are told to us through this narrator, who isn't

afraid to hand us his/her opinion and pass judgments on other characters. We as readers are

guided by the narrator in what we see and even what we are to make of what we see. The

narrator is an unreliable narrator, in the sense that he/she often jumps to conclusions and makes

judgments on characters without having the whole story. The narrator offers us a commentary on the characters, so we neglect, or perhaps even forget to make our own ideas about them, “That laugh could have been put into words, thus: “Yes, I, too has that irresistible impossible vitality...where has it all gone...we don't think when we are that age...”And so on” (Text 1, ll. 68-70

– own underlining). The ending is the clearest example of an untrustworthy, unreliable narrator

who offers the reader his/her interpretation of the events. The narrator lets us know that the old

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man follows the girls and that a scene is likely to happen, yes even an “incident” that would reach the papers. But if we ourselves had observed the whole ordeal in the gallery, we were probably not prone to make the assumptions the narrator makes. So a certain bias is often present when we deal with first person-narrators and most definitely in In the National Gallery.

Ordantal: (312)

A2 analyserer og diskuterer hvordan Doris Lessing benytter sig af point of view

(fortællersynsvinkel). Afsnittet er en uddybelse af det første afsnit i hovedessayet. Her bliver det uddybet, hvordan førstepersonfortælleren fungerer som utroværdig og forudindtaget. A2 opgaven skal være tekstnær, og der er derfor inddraget et par citater med egen understregning for at tydeliggøre argumentationen. Afslutningsvis bliver slutningen på historien behandlet til helt at slå fast, hvordan man ofte ikke kan stole på denne type fortæller, og hvordan det ofte er tilfældet med det litterære virkemiddel første-personfortællere.

NB. Du kan se noter lavet til opgaven og disposition for opgaven på de næste sider!

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Hvilke noter og hvordan skal man anvende dem?

Dette noteark er ment som inspiration til, hvilke noter man kunne sidde med efter sine to-tre

gennemlæsninger af novellen. Disse noter kunne være: egne noter/tanker/brainstorm om

spørgsmålene, brugbare citater, parafrase af vigtige passager og en disposition.

Disse skal så sorteres/systematiseres, og du skal vælge, hvilke der skal med, og hvordan de skal

præsenteres bedst muligt og i hvilken rækkefølge.

Dette er ikke nødvendigvis de noter du sidder med, når du har læst novellen, idet dit fokus på, hvad der er vigtigst, kan være helt anderledes. Dette er det fantastiske ved litteratur, ikke to læsninger behøver være ens, men derfor kan de være mindst lige gode. Det handler om at kunne understøtte sine påstande med eksempler fra teksten, og her er noterne essentielle.

Theme(s): (temaer markeret med fed, er de jeg har udvalgt at fokusere på i dette essay)

• Various stages in life.

• The carelessness of the young and the intensity of the old

• The link between generations.

• The generation gap – generations in conflict

• Contrasts: young-old

• Time,

• Nature of men and women.

• Interpretation of the world.

• Repeating the past and reliving it- Reliving your youth.

• Different views on life (old and young).

• Nostalgia - Lost youth - Gazing ahead or back.

• Sexuality.

Characters:

Narrator:

• First-person narrator (unreliable – subjective view of the events) – story colored by narrator's opinions.

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• Point of view: onlooker – describes what she/he sees with comments.

• Probably female (how the French girls are described).

• Watcher – observes others – the onlooker – sees the group dynamics of other people!

• The narrator’s role is that of the watcher, the observer, who guides the reader’s perception and judgment.

• The entire sequence of events is unsettling, disturbing something lies beneath the surface

– at least according to the narrator.

• The narrator act as a spy, watching others closely, judging, jumping to conclusions about what he is watching.

• Untrustworty and unreliable.

• Biased.

Old man:

• Teacher/ father/ mentor.

• ”...about sixty years old, well dressed, a well-presented man absorbed in his contemplation.” (p. 2, l. 9).

• Huge admirer of Stubbs' horse. Passionate.

• Represents old age.

• Knowledgeable “How much I would have liked to know as much as he did.” (Text 1, ll.15-

16).

• Nostalgic- reminisces about his own past.

• Believes the two generation share the value of passion, “The passions of little kids are just as strong as the grown-ups” (text 1, ll. 106).

French girl(s):

• Represent(s) youth.

• Youth “They were so vivacious, so lively, such a little bonfire of bright sparks” (p.3, ll. 48-

49).

• Not interested in art. “They were not looking at it, or at any of the pictures, but talked loudly and laughed, expecting attention, which they were getting” (p. 2, ll. 35-36).

• Looking for attention, “...but talked loudly and laughed, expecting attention, which they were getting” (text 1, ll.35-36).

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• Narrator comment about the girls, “What an attractive little lot they were these girls, glittery and shiny, as if from a fever...” (Text 1, ll.39-40).

• “One girl stood out. She was so “French” in her way of presenting herself, a package to be admired, […] with a little pert little face which must have smiled a hundred times to be told that it was like Audrey Hepburn's” (Text 1, ll. 41-43).

• Young and alive: “they were so vivacious, so lively, such a little bonfire of bright sparks”

(Text 1, ll.48-50).

• The French girl, “Yes, she really was something, this little bit of a miss France with her chic, her dark locks of hair cut to be crooked, dark eyes, slightly angular eyebrows...” Text 1, ll.51

-55).

Other texts (themes):

The Great Gatsby (text 1):

• You can't repeat the past.

• Nostalgia.

• Changing the past.

Territorial (Text 2):

• Maturation.

• Changing from one thing to another.

• Growing into an adult.

• Fits on the French girl – she can also be seen as a kitten (child) slowly changing into a cat

(adult).

Their Eyes were Watching God (text 3)

• Unfulfilled dreams.

• Difference between men and women.

• You can't see the whole picture when you look too closely at something.

Pictures (themes):

Picture 1:

• Champion racehorse ”Whistle jacket”.

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• Symbol of vitality, youth, strength (the girls and the men when they were young).

Question: What does this horse mean to the various characters in the story? Think about age as well.

Picture 2:

• The onlooker: static, heavy, stuck, passive, weak.

• Male authority, power and sexuality.

• Watcher.

• Spy

Question: What/or who can the onlooker represent? = narrator, old man.

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Disposition for essay

Indledning/præsentation:

Tragtindledning: Generelt = tema: generation gap (afstand imellem generationer. gammel >< ung)

Konkret = tekst: situationen i novellen.

Nøgleord til afsnittet: Ungdommen: carelessness and spontaneity. De ældre: passsion and intensity.

Faktuelle oplysninger: forfatter, titel, udgivelsesår, genre.

Hoveddel/analysen:

Hovedfokus: temaet = afstanden mellem de to generationer. Vise fortællerens utroværdighed.

Afsnit 1: Præsentation/analyse af fortælleren. Hvad er hans/hendes betydning for novellen. Kort

opridsning af omgivelserne og handlingen.

Afsnit 2: Analyse af den ældre mand sat over for studenten/sønnen. (Clash of generations)

Præsentation af Whistlejacket (billede 1) som symbol på voksne/ældre værdier.

Nøglecitat til afsnittet: ”You can't make a silkpurse out of me, I keep telling you”(Text 1, ll.22-25).

Afsnit 3: Præsentation af gruppen af franske piger den ene franske pige overfor den ældre mand (clash of generations).

Doris Lessing: engelskfaglig viden (kontraster).

Nøglecitat til afsnittet: “The passions of little kids are just as strong as the grown-ups” (Text 1, l.

106).

Afsnit 4: Den franske piges udvikling står ved en skillevej mellem ung og voksen (inddrag text 3:

Territorial). Udjævner generationskløften.

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Konklusion/afslutning:

Cirkelstruktur: peger mod indledningen. Konklusion på fortællerens rolle og fortolkning på

hvordan han/hun har gengivet hvad han/hun har set (generationernes kamp/kløft) peger også

frem mod A2, som omhandler fortælleren i detaljer.

Overordnet: Hvilken betydning har alle de ting, jeg har analyseret på i hoveddelen? Saml op og konkluder på temaet og budskabet i novellen.