“Chemistry” written by Graham Swift Essay

In the opening of the story, Graham speedy uses descritptive writing to give us a striking image of the pond, where he went with his grandfather and overprotect, The pond in our park was circular, exposed, perhaps fifty yards across. When the wind blew, the little waves travelled across it and slapped the paved edges like a minature sea. This helps the subscriber gain a much precise image in their head of the park where the bank clerk is, and it also helps make the story more interesting to read. The opening of the story is also par tout ensembleel to the end. The fibber in the story, goes butt to the pond at the end of the story, and again gives us good imagery exposition of it, Dead willow leaves floated on it. I found this interesting, because it makes the story cyclical, and whitethorn be a admonisher of the journey of growing up and of the acceptance You must accept it you cant get it back . It also convinces us to imagine that the bank clerk went back to the park, f or wishful thinking hoping that his grandfather would return and not wanting to left go of the past.When I first began reading the story, I believed that it was a female narrator. iodine of the reasonings for this is because it said, My grand spawn died suddenly on the whole I know is that I must have had her timbres. However, we be later on informed that the narrator is a ten year old son. We aware of this because his grow calls him her little patch and she also says, Hes sole(prenominal) ten, what can he know? . I find this super interesting in the story, because he appears to be highly mature, intelligent and formal. Although he is only ten historic period old, he uses complex words and sendences such(prenominal) as fundamentals of chemistry, haunches and reconciled them in interchangeable grief.However, he is cold blooded as he rarely describes how he is feeling and has never mentioned about being upset when his father and grandmother died. This is an unusual perspe ctive to use as he is so young, yet faced with traumatizing experiences, but I believe that the author has done this to highlight his acquitted and because he will have few prejudices. This means he will tell the story how it is, without changing it to suit what he believes or his own opinions. An representative of this, is when his father comes to see him. Although I believe that it is a dream, the narrator is convinced that his father came to see him That night father came to the bedroom. I knew it was him.At the beginning of the story, I find it interesting, that the author describes the boat journey, over the pond towards grandfather as trouble free. Then, all of a sudden the boat happens. I believe that the author purposely makes the boat sink when Ralph is out right hand introduced to the story, Then one day it must have been soon after mother met Ralph we watched the boat grow deeper and deeper in the water.This contrasts greatly with the boat journey on the pond befo re the male childs mother met Ralph, and poses questions in the readers mind that Ralph is going to stop the boys and grandfathers trouble free life. I believe that this is interesting because he is indirectly warning the readers that Ralph is going to make things worse, which is symbolic of the sinking boat. An example of Ralph qualification things worse later in the story, is during meal times. This is because since Ralphs appearance, the narrators mother would cook the things that only Ralph liked and forget to produce meals that grandfather was of. Thus resulting in arguments at meal times, when grandfather was sent out to his shed.Although the story is quite dull and morbid, the author uses humour, when the boy says, I wondered how Grandmother could be at the bottom of the Irish Sea and at the same time what Father was doing there. Again, this highlights his innocence and although it is humerous we are not laughing with him, but at his ignorance.In the story, there are many t ime shifts. many times the narrator goes back in time, to update and tell the reader of a previous event, such as the descents between his mother and grandfather before Ralph came along, and let offing why his mother and him came to live with his grandfather . This may be significant in the story because he preferred things in the past, compared to now.I find the relationship between the narrators mother and grandfather interesting. He refused to leave the house in which my grandmother had lived, and my parents refused to leave theirs, tells us that they are both arrogant and selfish and will not give in to their stubborness for one another. The narrator tells us that his mother is also hypocritical towards her father, no matter how neglectful and even hurtful she world power be to granddaddy herself, she wouldnt have forgiven aboutone elses hurting him. Also, she tries to punish her father by isolating him from them (as he was runing their meals) by saying do you want to take yours out to your shed?When he dies, her mother shows no remorse and did not cry. The narrator tells us that, it was as though she had this look of relief, as if she had recovered from an illness. The narrator does not say this, but we assume that the illness was her father. The boy believes that his mother is in love with Ralph, and would choose him over her father, If Ralph hurts Grandfather it means Im right he doesnt really care about mother at all but if mother is cruel to Grandfather it means she really loves Ralph. However, he also says She looked trapped and helpless, when Ralph and his mother were cuddling, which puts questions in our mind about their relationship and if she is truly happy.Within the story there are many recondite messages and meanings. There are many questions that remained unanswered too. An example of this is when the boys father came to visit him during the night. He says to him, It was her. She made a hole in the bottom of the boat, not big enough to notice, so it would sink so you and Grandfather would watch it sink. The boat sank like my plane . The questions that this poses in my mind are Did the boys mother kill her father? Did she kill the boys Grandfather? Is he looking for someone to infernal? Did she purposely sink his boat? I think it is ironic that his father visited him, on the night that his Grandfather had died. I believe the author did this purposely to add more mystery and confusion to the story.Another example which raises hints and questions to the reader is the cherry laurel bushes that were growing in their garden. He says, Only the cherry-laurel bushes were partly denuded for some reason Grandfather had been picking their leaves. Further on in the story, when the boy goes out to the shed, he begins question his Grandfather about the chemicals he had. Laurel water. Prussic acid. He smiled. Not for drinking. The smile may indicate to the reader that he is smiling to the boy through innocence telling h im to politely and informaly not to drink it, or he his smiling to himself, asthough he has something planned. Again, this poses more questions in my mind but it contradicts my believing that the boys mother killed the boys Grandfather, and because of this it adds more unanswered questions.Also in the story, I find interesting that the official verdict was suicide by swallowing prussic acid, which is an argument for his Grandafther commiting suicide (as he had some prussic acid in his shed), yet the boy is extremely cynical and believes his mother murdered her father. But all of the other things that should have been explained or confessed she never did explain, and I wanted to tell them about how suicide can be murder indicate this to us. His mother says to the boy, he wouldnt have lived much longer anyway which may inform the reader that she is assay to justify her actions (murder).Throughout the story is the theme of chemistry and how things are changed not made. His Gran dfathers job, before retirement, was gold-plating and now, in the shed in the garden, he carries out many experiments, I dont think Grandfather practised chemistry for any particular reason.The chemistry Grandfather experiments with and changes is a metaphor of what is happening in the home, People change too, dont they? His Grandfather replies with They change. But the segments dont change. This is telling the reader, that although people/elements can change and become something else, underneath it all they are still made of the same as they were before.