Jonathan's Essay

“The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” Essay Jonathan Holt

2. Choose a novel which you feel has a particularly well chosen title. Explain why you think the title helps you to appreciate the central ideas of the text.

Janice Galloway’s, “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” is a novel which uses a stream of consciousness narrative, a form of first person narration, allowing the reader to see the whole novel through our protagonist’s perspective, Joy Stone. This essay will examine the title of the novel and show how it assists the reader to appreciate the central idea of the text. This essay will also look at how the writer achieves this by the use of water imagery, structure and other aspects within the novel.

The title of the novel, “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing”, can be interpreted in many different ways. Galloway looks at each aspect of the title and uses many techniques to somewhat explain her word choice within the cleverly named title.
Galloway uses many references towards water imagery, as a way to explain to the reader how Joy’s partner Michael died. The reader is told that Michael drowns and this is extremely ironic as the character of Joy Stone continually makes references to water. The idea of water also ties back to the title of the novel where the word “Breathing” tells the reader how Michael could have survived his death. Galloway personifies the element of water bringing it to life, allowing it to affect the character of Joy, “Liquid black. Still wet. It seeps when I put my foot near, bleeding at the rim of leather, sucking at the sole.” The word “black” shows the reader how Joy feels towards water, showing that she feels that it is something which should be feared as it took the life of the one she loved. The word “bleeding” represents how Joy feels internally, as if a huge chunk of her life has been cut away from her, leaving a huge gaping hole in her heart. Also, the phrase “sucking at the sole” can be interpreted in two different ways, but the title of the novel insinuates that Joy feels as if the imagery of water is literally sucking away at her soul, ruining her life with no remorse. One of the most powerful quotes from the whole novel is, “I read somewhere the trick is to keep breathing, make out its not unnatural at all.” This quote personifies the title of the novel, regarding the verb of swimming, once again regarding the death of Joy’s partner, thus the title of the novel allows the reader to have a deeper insight into the thought stream of Joy Stone, permitting the reader to have a greater appreciation of the text.

The structure of the novel also reflects the title of the novel in respect to the task of breathing. There is a huge lack of punctuation within the novel which almost represents a breathless speech, coming back to the idea that “the trick is to keep breathing.” The structure of the novel is very spaced out, as if Joy is trying to catch her breath,
“especially for his wife
especially his wife”

The structure adopted with this quote shows that despite her obvious breathlessness, Joy is adamant that she needs to inform the reader of her feelings, showing the reader that she will do anything to find the “trick” of fluent speech which she finds later in the novel. The structure used throughout the novel helps the reader to realise Joy’s great discomfort with catching her breath and this is also illustrated through the title of the novel, ensuring the reader that Joy will eventually find the silver lining to life.

Within the title lies the word “Trick”, which insinuates that there is hope within all of the hurt which Joy has experienced. It allows the reader to realise that everything that Joy has been through may have been deeply unfortunate but in hindsight it is those adverse experiences which assist Joy in finding the trick to get her life back on track. The title may seem insignificant to some, but the reader realises that it holds much power over Joy’s life and it holds the secret to a better life for her which expands the reader’s appreciation towards the text.

In conclusion, the title “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” holds much power over the text and it allows the reader to realise the central ideas of the novel. Galloway uses water imagery and structure to assist her in showing the reader the central ideas of the text and these techniques return back to the title of the novel, complimenting each other greatly and increasing the reader’s appreciation towards the text.