Choose a novel or a short story in which humour plays an important part. Explain how the humour is created and show how it made an important contribution to your enjoyment of the text as a whole.
“The Trick is to Keep Breathing” by Janice Galloway is a powerful, thought provoking novel told using a stream of consciousness narrative that traps the reader inside the head of the protagonist, Joy Stone, as she struggles with a bout depression after the death of her partner. Considering the novel’s dark subject matter, it is surprising that humour plays a hugely important part in this story. This essay will examine how this humour is created and its contribution to the reader’s enjoyment of the text as a whole.
Joy often jokes about her job as a teacher, denouncing the Scottish Education system in a very familiar way for Scottish readers to recognise. For example - “Scottish Education: apportion blame that ye have not blame apportioned unto you. It wisny me, it was you/him/her/a wee man and he ran away”. The use of colloquial Scottish language here, like “wisny”, is amusing, particularly to a Scottish reader as they can relate directly to this stereotype of Scots ‘passing the buck’, so to speak, and the comical excuse of “a wee man and he ran away” seems like just the sort of thing a teacher in Joy’s position is likely to hear working in an everyday Scottish secondary school. Also, the first sentence is very formal and proper, using words such as “apportion”, whereas the second is a complete contrast and blames “a wee man” rather than saying something more eloquent. This contrast creates a humorous effect and pokes fun at Scotland as a nation. As a result, the reader can see Joy finding fault within herself as a Scot, and despite the hints of humour that undoubtedly come across, it is clear that every inch of what makes Joy herself is tarred for her because of this depression, meaning she’s unable to stop criticising all aspects of her personality, whether she’s being comical or not. This allows the reader to really see just how much this depression has engulfed Joy, yet glimpses of her sense of humour determinedly still shine through.
Moreover, Joy continues to be comical, particularly in reference to her job as a teacher. She lists the disciplines that she teaches her pupils such as “routine”, “when to keep their mouths shut” and “how to put up with boredom and unfairness”. Finally, she teaches them the fifth item on her list - “not to go into teaching”, before quickly following this statement with “That isn’t true. And then again it is. I am never sure what it is I do.” This remark of teaching pupils not to follow her chosen career path is amusing, but is almost negated by her unnecessary comment that this isn’t actually the case. It also shows that she doubts herself, unsure of what it actually is that she does. Therefore we see that Joy almost doesn’t allow herself to be humorous, as if in light of her current tragic situation it wouldn’t be right and she would somehow be doing the wrong thing by cracking little jokes and lightening the tone. Consequently, it is clear that Joy’s partner Michael’s death has had a huge effect on her, causing her to doubt her true self - a beautiful, clever, and certainly funny woman. It’s as if she has to change because her situation has changed. However, it’s evident that, although suppressed, Joy’s sense of humour is still intact after Michael’s sudden death.
The novel’s climax can also be viewed in a humorous light. Joy’s has had to be anaesthetised after taking a turn and wanting to kill herself in an asylum. On a single page on it’s own there is just one word which sums up Joy’s reaction to what she has just tried to do - “oops.” Although dark humour, this is humorous nonetheless. If anything, it’s a comical reaction because the big climax of the novel is in fact a total anticlimax. The action speeds up before this point as Joy gets more and more frantic - “throwing off the sheets and searching, raking through a spill of make-up bag, magazines, paper and pens. Pills are missing… returns with a full needle the bitch the bitch… while the drug snakes a cold up the length of an arm.” Where you’d expect there to be a great explosion of action at the climax of a novel, the “oops” just slows things right down to a stop. Also, “oops” is a childish expression, a little exclamation after making a mistake, and is amusing because it’s as if Joy is just shrugging off this incredibly serious incident. It’s also a classic understatement that doesn’t quite illustrate the severity of the act. Even when it comes to matters as dark as suicide, Joy’s sense of humour is still there, darkened by depression, but certainly still there.
In conclusion, despite the novel’s serious subject matter, hints of humour still come across showing that despite all that Joy’s been through - her partner’s death, her being sectioned, a suicide attempt - she is still the same person she always was underneath, just slightly more fragile and saddened than before. Glimpses of her personality coming across show that although her depression has well and truly engulfed her, the real Joy underneath still remains. The comic interludes throughout the story are mildly uplifting, lightening the tone even if just for a moment, giving the reader hope that Joy could recover, feel better and regain a ‘normal’ way of life.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Nicole's Trick Essay
‘‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’’
4. Choose a novel or a short story in which a technique (such as symbolism) is used by the author and is, in your view, vital to the success of the text. Explain how the writer employs this technique and why, in your opinion it is so important to your appreciation of the text.
Janice Galloway adopts a stream of consciousness narrative in ‘‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’’ which is vital to the success of the text. My essay will explore how Galloway employs narrative structure by using flashbacks and script in order to add to my appreciation of the novel.
A stream of consciousness narrative is a form of first person narration in which we can see the entire novel through the eyes of our protagonist, Joy Stone. This narrative traps the reader into Joy’s mind and allows us to experience every moment of the novel with Joy. Galloway wants the reader to experience Joy’s pain and recovery for themselves in order to understand how upset, mystified and desperate Joy has become. Throughout the novel, Joy’s thoughts are interrupted with a visual stimulus in which Galloway uses these interruptions to show Joy’s unstable mind which occasionally present us with a different narrative.
Galloway uses flashbacks which are written in the present tense to illustrate Joys recurring memory of Michael’s death. Galloway has used the present tense to show Joy is constantly reliving the memory and remembers it exceptionally well. The flashbacks are chronological, yet broken up which takes the reader along time to piece together which reflects Joy’s frame of mind. These flashbacks are subconscious interruptions which sometimes overlap to build on top of one another. In the opening flashback: ‘‘Now I remember everything all the time. You never know what you might need to recollect later, when the significance of the moment might appear.’’ demonstrates that before her husband died Joy couldn’t retain the good things in her life but now that Michael has died she’s committed to her memory and remembers everything because it is more important to her as if an element of her is missing. This shows her pain and grief as she remembers everything because of what she has lost. Additionally ‘‘A little boy, five or six, stands with a piece of shirt in one brown fist. Tugging. … signor you husband is dead.’’ highlights Joys pain and shows that her memory is very clear of what happened to Michael. ‘‘I look back at the child. His eyes bloom.’’ illustrates that the boys eyes shrivel and that Joy just seems to fade at this heart breaking news. These flashbacks are essential to the accomplishment of the text as without these the reader would not be able to relate to Joy and what happened to her previously so therefore this allows the reader to be trapped into Joy’s mind and experience her pain.
Galloway uses script to help support Joy’s feelings of being dissociated from events as well as a way for her to describe a conversation without using direct speech. This shows the reader at the beginning of the novel that Joy does not want to open up to the health visitor or doctor. Script helps Joy feels as though she is in control and suggests an idea of putting on an act which creates a sense of defamiliarisation as if anyone could take on either role. Galloway uses script when introducing the health visitor because Joy knows what the health visitor is going to ask her so she’s not herself again reinforcing the idea of putting on an act. This reflects her need for order and routine as it’s a schedule were she has puts on act several times before. ‘‘There’s a lot to do before she comes but it’s a set routine so I don’t need think.’’ This also shows that Joy feels as though she is separate from her physical being: ‘‘It just uses my body and runs itself…’’ As Joy watches the health visitor eating biscuits she feels intimidated and annoyed because she doesn’t want the health visitor to be there and the health visitor knows this : ‘‘This is the forth time we have played this fucking game.’’ showing that Joy is disgusted by it. When Joy says ‘‘You Always Expect To Much’’ emphasises that she thinks that the health visitor expects too much of her and makes her feel guilty because the health visitor seems disappointed and bothered as Joy is not giving the correct answers so she feels trapped by the health visitor . Script in the novel also helps to introduce the theme of identity. Joy is a drama teacher; sense of putting on an act. Drama teachers read scripts so Joy uses these to disguise her true identity. In the scripts Joy does not refer to herself but to: patient, Harridan, Me, Impatient and Employee showing that she does not identify with herself. Her only form of identity is her job so conversations are therefore written in script.
In conclusion narrative structure is vital to the success of the text as without this structure the reader would not understand and be able to relate to the protagonist Joy stone. In the novel the self-help book presents us with different steps of Joy’s grieving process which the reader sees her go through all the way throughout. This can rearrange the narrative of the novel to actually follow the chapters of the self-help book and adds to my appreciation of the text as it shows the reader exactly how Joy sees her life and in her particular order.
4. Choose a novel or a short story in which a technique (such as symbolism) is used by the author and is, in your view, vital to the success of the text. Explain how the writer employs this technique and why, in your opinion it is so important to your appreciation of the text.
Janice Galloway adopts a stream of consciousness narrative in ‘‘The Trick Is To Keep Breathing’’ which is vital to the success of the text. My essay will explore how Galloway employs narrative structure by using flashbacks and script in order to add to my appreciation of the novel.
A stream of consciousness narrative is a form of first person narration in which we can see the entire novel through the eyes of our protagonist, Joy Stone. This narrative traps the reader into Joy’s mind and allows us to experience every moment of the novel with Joy. Galloway wants the reader to experience Joy’s pain and recovery for themselves in order to understand how upset, mystified and desperate Joy has become. Throughout the novel, Joy’s thoughts are interrupted with a visual stimulus in which Galloway uses these interruptions to show Joy’s unstable mind which occasionally present us with a different narrative.
Galloway uses flashbacks which are written in the present tense to illustrate Joys recurring memory of Michael’s death. Galloway has used the present tense to show Joy is constantly reliving the memory and remembers it exceptionally well. The flashbacks are chronological, yet broken up which takes the reader along time to piece together which reflects Joy’s frame of mind. These flashbacks are subconscious interruptions which sometimes overlap to build on top of one another. In the opening flashback: ‘‘Now I remember everything all the time. You never know what you might need to recollect later, when the significance of the moment might appear.’’ demonstrates that before her husband died Joy couldn’t retain the good things in her life but now that Michael has died she’s committed to her memory and remembers everything because it is more important to her as if an element of her is missing. This shows her pain and grief as she remembers everything because of what she has lost. Additionally ‘‘A little boy, five or six, stands with a piece of shirt in one brown fist. Tugging. … signor you husband is dead.’’ highlights Joys pain and shows that her memory is very clear of what happened to Michael. ‘‘I look back at the child. His eyes bloom.’’ illustrates that the boys eyes shrivel and that Joy just seems to fade at this heart breaking news. These flashbacks are essential to the accomplishment of the text as without these the reader would not be able to relate to Joy and what happened to her previously so therefore this allows the reader to be trapped into Joy’s mind and experience her pain.
Galloway uses script to help support Joy’s feelings of being dissociated from events as well as a way for her to describe a conversation without using direct speech. This shows the reader at the beginning of the novel that Joy does not want to open up to the health visitor or doctor. Script helps Joy feels as though she is in control and suggests an idea of putting on an act which creates a sense of defamiliarisation as if anyone could take on either role. Galloway uses script when introducing the health visitor because Joy knows what the health visitor is going to ask her so she’s not herself again reinforcing the idea of putting on an act. This reflects her need for order and routine as it’s a schedule were she has puts on act several times before. ‘‘There’s a lot to do before she comes but it’s a set routine so I don’t need think.’’ This also shows that Joy feels as though she is separate from her physical being: ‘‘It just uses my body and runs itself…’’ As Joy watches the health visitor eating biscuits she feels intimidated and annoyed because she doesn’t want the health visitor to be there and the health visitor knows this : ‘‘This is the forth time we have played this fucking game.’’ showing that Joy is disgusted by it. When Joy says ‘‘You Always Expect To Much’’ emphasises that she thinks that the health visitor expects too much of her and makes her feel guilty because the health visitor seems disappointed and bothered as Joy is not giving the correct answers so she feels trapped by the health visitor . Script in the novel also helps to introduce the theme of identity. Joy is a drama teacher; sense of putting on an act. Drama teachers read scripts so Joy uses these to disguise her true identity. In the scripts Joy does not refer to herself but to: patient, Harridan, Me, Impatient and Employee showing that she does not identify with herself. Her only form of identity is her job so conversations are therefore written in script.
In conclusion narrative structure is vital to the success of the text as without this structure the reader would not understand and be able to relate to the protagonist Joy stone. In the novel the self-help book presents us with different steps of Joy’s grieving process which the reader sees her go through all the way throughout. This can rearrange the narrative of the novel to actually follow the chapters of the self-help book and adds to my appreciation of the text as it shows the reader exactly how Joy sees her life and in her particular order.
Trick.../Steph .
“The Trick is to Keep Breathing” by Janice Galloway is a novel which conveys one woman’s struggle, Joy Stone, to overcome her depression after her lover drowned. Galloway’s narrative structure helps convey Joy’s depression throughout the text, through her use of stream of consciousness narrative, scripts and flashbacks. This essay will explain why Galloway employs the technique of flashbacks and why this is so important to the reader’s appreciation of the text.
Galloway’s use of flashbacks help convey Joy’s depression after the loss of Michael and help to show the reader how serious Joy’s depression is. “I look down and his mouth is a red O. White water runs through his hair.” This shows how affected Joy is by his death, she constantly relives the nightmare and cannot forget him. The descriptive details used show how exact her memories are, she remembers every little detail about him, every moment, “ ..a red O.” These memories haunt her. By using this technique the reader gains sympathy for Joy and allows the reader to become involved in the text.
As well as conveying Joy’s depression the flashbacks also show Joy’s unstable mind. Joy could be anywhere doing anything, yet she could have a flashback. She cannot control her mind, “I don’t know where to put my clothes, how to fold them…it took three days to get him home. They had to call everyday to check. Not to me…” The jump from Joy’s normal thoughts her to her flashbacks is so abrupt and unprovoked. The reader can see from this the Joy is very unstable in her state of mind and needs serious help. Galloway has gained the reader onside with Joy and allows the reader to feel part of Joy’s mind, living every moment with her, sympathising and hoping she recovers.
Finally through the use of this technique Galloway does convey Joy’s recovery. The flashbacks calm down and become less frequent for Joy. This allows the reader to see Joy is finally taking back control of her life and feel happy for her. “His mouth touched my neck then the shadow length ended, moved into the sun…” her final flashback is easier to understand than any other, she also seems calmer conveying recovery. Galloway has taken the reader on a journey of Joy’s struggle, from breakdown to recovery gaining respect, sympathy and in some cases perhaps even relation to this character Joy Stone.
Throughout the text Galloway’s use of flashbacks keep the reader intensely interested and involved. Due to this the reader can learn a lot and partially understand what it can be like to be so lost in depression. Galloway uses this technique extremely well to enhance the reader in the text.
Galloway’s use of flashbacks help convey Joy’s depression after the loss of Michael and help to show the reader how serious Joy’s depression is. “I look down and his mouth is a red O. White water runs through his hair.” This shows how affected Joy is by his death, she constantly relives the nightmare and cannot forget him. The descriptive details used show how exact her memories are, she remembers every little detail about him, every moment, “ ..a red O.” These memories haunt her. By using this technique the reader gains sympathy for Joy and allows the reader to become involved in the text.
As well as conveying Joy’s depression the flashbacks also show Joy’s unstable mind. Joy could be anywhere doing anything, yet she could have a flashback. She cannot control her mind, “I don’t know where to put my clothes, how to fold them…it took three days to get him home. They had to call everyday to check. Not to me…” The jump from Joy’s normal thoughts her to her flashbacks is so abrupt and unprovoked. The reader can see from this the Joy is very unstable in her state of mind and needs serious help. Galloway has gained the reader onside with Joy and allows the reader to feel part of Joy’s mind, living every moment with her, sympathising and hoping she recovers.
Finally through the use of this technique Galloway does convey Joy’s recovery. The flashbacks calm down and become less frequent for Joy. This allows the reader to see Joy is finally taking back control of her life and feel happy for her. “His mouth touched my neck then the shadow length ended, moved into the sun…” her final flashback is easier to understand than any other, she also seems calmer conveying recovery. Galloway has taken the reader on a journey of Joy’s struggle, from breakdown to recovery gaining respect, sympathy and in some cases perhaps even relation to this character Joy Stone.
Throughout the text Galloway’s use of flashbacks keep the reader intensely interested and involved. Due to this the reader can learn a lot and partially understand what it can be like to be so lost in depression. Galloway uses this technique extremely well to enhance the reader in the text.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Trick essay
Choose a novel or short story in which a central character's failure to understand the reality of his or her situation is an important feature of the text. Explain how the writer makes you aware of this failure, and show how it is important to your appreciation of the text as a whole.
Joy Stone is a central character in Janice Galloway’s ‘The Trick is to Keep Breathing’ who fails to understand the reality of her situation. This essay will examine how Galloway makes the reader aware of this lack of understanding, and how important it is to the reader’s appreciation of the novel.
Joy’s mental state is made apparent from the beginning of the novel as she makes several desperate and paranoid sounding remarks, such as ‘They never give you any warning’ and ‘You never know…when the significance of the moment might appear’, immediately conveying her mental instability to the reader, and illustrating her distorted perception of reality. She no longer sees the world like everybody else, instead choosing to believe such improbable things as being able to ‘watch herself from the corner of the room’, which either means she feels disconnected from her body, or she keeps a mirror in the corner.
The idea of Joy’s mind seeing her body as a collection of disparate parts is revisited many more times in the novel, with Galloway at one point devoting an entire paragraph to the simple act of Joy getting out of a chair, using long and painfully slow sentences such as ‘releasing pressure and rebalancing in the chair to accommodate the tilting, adjusting, redistributing pieces of myself’. In doing so, Galloway effectively conveys the difficulty Joy is experiencing, with the long sentences mirroring the amount of time it takes for Joy to make the necessary effort to stand up, and the slow pace of the sentences mirroring the speed of Joy’s movements. It doesn’t make for particularly riveting reading, however.
Joy’s inability to understand her reality is also conveyed via the use of marginalia; these seemingly random and pointless words that sit on the edges of pages represent Joy’s subconscious thoughts encroaching on Joy’s conscious mind, and so show the astute reader that she is intentionally blocking out the truth of her situation; indeed, she first recognises this truth before the beginning of the timeline of the novel, in the house of her friend’s mother, Ellen. Joy says ‘I remember watching her face changing, and having to acknowledge then that something was wrong’, yet during the main portion of the book, Joy blocks out this realisation in favour of living in a dream world, shunning light and fearing water. The marginalia contains messages that pertain to Joy’s situation, usually in the form of warnings, yet the way in which they are continually blocked out makes Joy’s denial of the facts of her life clear to the reader, assuming said reader is still possessive of any vague interest in the novel by this point. Another giveaway is that the presence of the marginalia decreases drastically after Joy’s stay in the institution, as after this point, she listens to her subconscious and has fully realised her situation, therefore her subconscious has no need to ‘shout’ at her any more, and so the marginalia is absent thereafter.
All these techniques come together to reinforce the idea that Joy has lost all grip on anything resembling reality, but why is this important? Well, for a start, if it was absent, the novel would have even less of a plotline that it currently does, but the main purpose of Joy’s instability is to convey how much of an effect Michael’s death has had on her, how much he meant to her, and to put Joy’s actions in the rest of the novel into a believable context. This causes more forgiving readers to feel sympathy for Joy, and increases the likelihood of them reading the novel all the way to the end, where Joy is marginally less depressed. Joy’s lack of conscious understanding or acknowledgement of her situation is therefore a major feature of the text, one which adds depth and a semblance of credibility to the tale.
In short, Galloway’s main character most definitely fails to understand the reality of her situation, and Galloway makes use of many different techniques to convey this and to highlight its importance, making it an important feature of the text as a whole, and a feature that undoubtedly contributes to the reader’s appreciation of the text. This, however, assumes the reader has any appreciation of it in the first place.
Steven Thomson
Joy Stone is a central character in Janice Galloway’s ‘The Trick is to Keep Breathing’ who fails to understand the reality of her situation. This essay will examine how Galloway makes the reader aware of this lack of understanding, and how important it is to the reader’s appreciation of the novel.
Joy’s mental state is made apparent from the beginning of the novel as she makes several desperate and paranoid sounding remarks, such as ‘They never give you any warning’ and ‘You never know…when the significance of the moment might appear’, immediately conveying her mental instability to the reader, and illustrating her distorted perception of reality. She no longer sees the world like everybody else, instead choosing to believe such improbable things as being able to ‘watch herself from the corner of the room’, which either means she feels disconnected from her body, or she keeps a mirror in the corner.
The idea of Joy’s mind seeing her body as a collection of disparate parts is revisited many more times in the novel, with Galloway at one point devoting an entire paragraph to the simple act of Joy getting out of a chair, using long and painfully slow sentences such as ‘releasing pressure and rebalancing in the chair to accommodate the tilting, adjusting, redistributing pieces of myself’. In doing so, Galloway effectively conveys the difficulty Joy is experiencing, with the long sentences mirroring the amount of time it takes for Joy to make the necessary effort to stand up, and the slow pace of the sentences mirroring the speed of Joy’s movements. It doesn’t make for particularly riveting reading, however.
Joy’s inability to understand her reality is also conveyed via the use of marginalia; these seemingly random and pointless words that sit on the edges of pages represent Joy’s subconscious thoughts encroaching on Joy’s conscious mind, and so show the astute reader that she is intentionally blocking out the truth of her situation; indeed, she first recognises this truth before the beginning of the timeline of the novel, in the house of her friend’s mother, Ellen. Joy says ‘I remember watching her face changing, and having to acknowledge then that something was wrong’, yet during the main portion of the book, Joy blocks out this realisation in favour of living in a dream world, shunning light and fearing water. The marginalia contains messages that pertain to Joy’s situation, usually in the form of warnings, yet the way in which they are continually blocked out makes Joy’s denial of the facts of her life clear to the reader, assuming said reader is still possessive of any vague interest in the novel by this point. Another giveaway is that the presence of the marginalia decreases drastically after Joy’s stay in the institution, as after this point, she listens to her subconscious and has fully realised her situation, therefore her subconscious has no need to ‘shout’ at her any more, and so the marginalia is absent thereafter.
All these techniques come together to reinforce the idea that Joy has lost all grip on anything resembling reality, but why is this important? Well, for a start, if it was absent, the novel would have even less of a plotline that it currently does, but the main purpose of Joy’s instability is to convey how much of an effect Michael’s death has had on her, how much he meant to her, and to put Joy’s actions in the rest of the novel into a believable context. This causes more forgiving readers to feel sympathy for Joy, and increases the likelihood of them reading the novel all the way to the end, where Joy is marginally less depressed. Joy’s lack of conscious understanding or acknowledgement of her situation is therefore a major feature of the text, one which adds depth and a semblance of credibility to the tale.
In short, Galloway’s main character most definitely fails to understand the reality of her situation, and Galloway makes use of many different techniques to convey this and to highlight its importance, making it an important feature of the text as a whole, and a feature that undoubtedly contributes to the reader’s appreciation of the text. This, however, assumes the reader has any appreciation of it in the first place.
Steven Thomson
Humour in the Trick - Michael Mackenzie
Choose a novel or a short story in which humour plays an important part. Explain how the humour is created and show how it made an important contribution to your enjoyment of the text as a whole.
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" written by Janice Galloway is a novel dealing with a women's recovery from depression caused by the drowning of her partner. Despite dealing with the protagonist's depression, the novel has glimpses of humour throughout; giving hope to the reader of Joy's recovery. This essay will show how the humour is created and describe its contribution to the reader's enjoyment of the text as a whole.
At points in the novel, we see that the character of Joy can laugh at herself. "The Bowie poster hides wine stains where I threw a glass at the wall. A wee accident." She makes light of her obvious drunken violent tendencies by calling it "a wee accident". The use of Scots word "wee", has childlike connotations which gives a sense that she doesn't understand what she has done wrong. The childlike persona clearly shows sarcasm conveying that she knows she has a problem-being violent when drunk-but she can laugh at herself at the same time. This gives an optimistic edge to the story as we see Joy is not completely depressed and her real personality-rather sarcastic and cynical using dark humour- shines through.
She often uses a Scottish voice to poke fun at the Scottish race and their culture. "Scottish Education: apportion blame that ye have not blame apportioned unto you. It wisny me, it was you/him/her/a wee man and he ran away." The clear contrast between the archaic,sophisticated first sentence and the colloquial Scots second, creates a very humorous effect, mocking the Scottish race. This is again finding problems with herself, as she is Scottish. But it also shows that she notices flaws in society; Scottish people will rarely take the blame for something and they do not have a very wide vocabulary. This shows, despite frequent thoughts of her partner's death, she is not always thinking about him; she is not in such a deep pit of depression that she cannot think as she would have before his death. This helps to show what Joy's personality was like before the accident.
With use of the stream of consciousness narrative, we are 'trapped' in Joy's mind and the author is taken out of the situation altogether. Notwithstanding Galloway's equally dark humour does show in parts. The character's names are rather ironic and humorous in this way. The character of Michael Fisher, Joy's partner, drowned. The link between fish and water is clear showing that Galloway chose this particular name for a humorous effect. In addition, the name Joy Stone is ironic as Joy is in a state of depression; she is anything but joyful. These aspects to the story are the only parts where Galloway's personality shows and we see she is rather similar to Joy as far as humour is concerned.
Humour plays an important part in this novel as it shows that Joy is not a completely broken character and there is hope for her recovery. We see what she used to be like before the accident-making light of her problems, sarcastic and cynical. However this may not be completely true as her personality has obviously been affected by Michael's death and this may be why her humour is so dark. Overall, the humour has a positive effect on the reader as it helps us deal with Joy's depression easier. It helps us see the inevitability of her recovery and makes the character of Joy much more likeable.
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" written by Janice Galloway is a novel dealing with a women's recovery from depression caused by the drowning of her partner. Despite dealing with the protagonist's depression, the novel has glimpses of humour throughout; giving hope to the reader of Joy's recovery. This essay will show how the humour is created and describe its contribution to the reader's enjoyment of the text as a whole.
At points in the novel, we see that the character of Joy can laugh at herself. "The Bowie poster hides wine stains where I threw a glass at the wall. A wee accident." She makes light of her obvious drunken violent tendencies by calling it "a wee accident". The use of Scots word "wee", has childlike connotations which gives a sense that she doesn't understand what she has done wrong. The childlike persona clearly shows sarcasm conveying that she knows she has a problem-being violent when drunk-but she can laugh at herself at the same time. This gives an optimistic edge to the story as we see Joy is not completely depressed and her real personality-rather sarcastic and cynical using dark humour- shines through.
She often uses a Scottish voice to poke fun at the Scottish race and their culture. "Scottish Education: apportion blame that ye have not blame apportioned unto you. It wisny me, it was you/him/her/a wee man and he ran away." The clear contrast between the archaic,sophisticated first sentence and the colloquial Scots second, creates a very humorous effect, mocking the Scottish race. This is again finding problems with herself, as she is Scottish. But it also shows that she notices flaws in society; Scottish people will rarely take the blame for something and they do not have a very wide vocabulary. This shows, despite frequent thoughts of her partner's death, she is not always thinking about him; she is not in such a deep pit of depression that she cannot think as she would have before his death. This helps to show what Joy's personality was like before the accident.
With use of the stream of consciousness narrative, we are 'trapped' in Joy's mind and the author is taken out of the situation altogether. Notwithstanding Galloway's equally dark humour does show in parts. The character's names are rather ironic and humorous in this way. The character of Michael Fisher, Joy's partner, drowned. The link between fish and water is clear showing that Galloway chose this particular name for a humorous effect. In addition, the name Joy Stone is ironic as Joy is in a state of depression; she is anything but joyful. These aspects to the story are the only parts where Galloway's personality shows and we see she is rather similar to Joy as far as humour is concerned.
Humour plays an important part in this novel as it shows that Joy is not a completely broken character and there is hope for her recovery. We see what she used to be like before the accident-making light of her problems, sarcastic and cynical. However this may not be completely true as her personality has obviously been affected by Michael's death and this may be why her humour is so dark. Overall, the humour has a positive effect on the reader as it helps us deal with Joy's depression easier. It helps us see the inevitability of her recovery and makes the character of Joy much more likeable.
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.
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.
Danielle Malinen's Trick essay
“The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” by Janice Galloway is an eventful story about one woman’s grieving process after the loss of her partner. Galloway has used stream of consciousness, first person narrative throughout the novel which is extremely effective as it traps the reader inside Joy’s mind. The title of the novel is very significant and well chosen. The purpose of this essay is to explain how the novel’s title helps you appreciate the central ideas of the text.
The title of the novel “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” ties in tremendously well with the central ideas of the novel. Firstly at the start of the novel and throughout we see water in a negative way. Joy sees water as a threat and it is something she is fearful of: “Liquid black. Still wet. It seeps when I put my shoe near, bleeding at the rim of leather, sucking at the sole.” The fact that Joy refers to the water as “black” is meaningful as the word black carries connotations of evil and darkness which reflects Joy’s darkened state of mind. Yet we may see water as something that is soothing and relaxing, not at all harmful. In addition the phrase “sucking at the sole” can be interpretated in two different ways, the word “sole” can mean the sole of her shoe or it can mean her “soul”. Joy sees water in a dangerous way and feels that it is literally sucking at her own soul.
Likewise the many references to water throughout the novel remind us of Michael’s death. Also the fact that Michael drowned is ironic as he could not breathe and the title says “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing”. The water imagery regards swimming and by the end of the novel, Joy wants to learn how to swim, she says: “Maybe I could learn how to swim…I’m not a natural swimmer…I read somewhere the trick is to keep breathing, make out it’s not unnatural at all.” Since she said that she wants to learn how to swim, shows another sign of her recovery. When Joy implies “it’s not unnatural at all” is linked to breathing as breathing is a natural reaction. She cannot not breathe, this is not an issue for her to worry about.
The title can have many different meanings, and can be perhaps ironic, due to the fact breathing is automatic an easy thing to do, but for Joy living seems to be an effort, almost a struggle. She feels she has no purpose, and she is just waiting for something to happen: “What will I do while I’m lasting?” This quote virtually makes Joy sound exhausted as if it is a cry for help. She needs someone to guide her, tell her what to do due to her lost identity. The word “Trick” in the title is important as it is somewhat saying the trick to recovery is, you just have to keep going, keep “lasting” and never give up.
The novel’s structure lacks a lot of punctuation, making the narration almost sound like a breathless speech: “I’m going to swim…I get hotter…I am vaguely uneasy. Shivering.” This technique is effective as it makes Joy sound as is she is gasping for breath which links well to the theme of water and regards swimming. The one word sentences are particularly successful “Shivering” as it makes it sound as if Joy is swimming and coming up for air and can only get one word out.
The title can be a little misleading as it sounds vaguely hopeful. It practically gives the reader an insight that in the end everything will be alright and Joy will eventually find “the trick”. Although Joy does begin to recover by the end of the novel it still does not compare to the hardship which Joy has had to face. The death of Michael destroyed Joy and the fact that by the end she deals with his death and wants to learn how to swim shows that deep down she really is a strong character. In conclusion Galloway’s well chosen title adds to my appreciation of the ideas dealt with throughout the text. As it can be interpretated in many different ways which reflects Joy’s weakened and shifty mind state.
The title of the novel “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” ties in tremendously well with the central ideas of the novel. Firstly at the start of the novel and throughout we see water in a negative way. Joy sees water as a threat and it is something she is fearful of: “Liquid black. Still wet. It seeps when I put my shoe near, bleeding at the rim of leather, sucking at the sole.” The fact that Joy refers to the water as “black” is meaningful as the word black carries connotations of evil and darkness which reflects Joy’s darkened state of mind. Yet we may see water as something that is soothing and relaxing, not at all harmful. In addition the phrase “sucking at the sole” can be interpretated in two different ways, the word “sole” can mean the sole of her shoe or it can mean her “soul”. Joy sees water in a dangerous way and feels that it is literally sucking at her own soul.
Likewise the many references to water throughout the novel remind us of Michael’s death. Also the fact that Michael drowned is ironic as he could not breathe and the title says “The Trick Is To Keep Breathing”. The water imagery regards swimming and by the end of the novel, Joy wants to learn how to swim, she says: “Maybe I could learn how to swim…I’m not a natural swimmer…I read somewhere the trick is to keep breathing, make out it’s not unnatural at all.” Since she said that she wants to learn how to swim, shows another sign of her recovery. When Joy implies “it’s not unnatural at all” is linked to breathing as breathing is a natural reaction. She cannot not breathe, this is not an issue for her to worry about.
The title can have many different meanings, and can be perhaps ironic, due to the fact breathing is automatic an easy thing to do, but for Joy living seems to be an effort, almost a struggle. She feels she has no purpose, and she is just waiting for something to happen: “What will I do while I’m lasting?” This quote virtually makes Joy sound exhausted as if it is a cry for help. She needs someone to guide her, tell her what to do due to her lost identity. The word “Trick” in the title is important as it is somewhat saying the trick to recovery is, you just have to keep going, keep “lasting” and never give up.
The novel’s structure lacks a lot of punctuation, making the narration almost sound like a breathless speech: “I’m going to swim…I get hotter…I am vaguely uneasy. Shivering.” This technique is effective as it makes Joy sound as is she is gasping for breath which links well to the theme of water and regards swimming. The one word sentences are particularly successful “Shivering” as it makes it sound as if Joy is swimming and coming up for air and can only get one word out.
The title can be a little misleading as it sounds vaguely hopeful. It practically gives the reader an insight that in the end everything will be alright and Joy will eventually find “the trick”. Although Joy does begin to recover by the end of the novel it still does not compare to the hardship which Joy has had to face. The death of Michael destroyed Joy and the fact that by the end she deals with his death and wants to learn how to swim shows that deep down she really is a strong character. In conclusion Galloway’s well chosen title adds to my appreciation of the ideas dealt with throughout the text. As it can be interpretated in many different ways which reflects Joy’s weakened and shifty mind state.
Rebecca Davidson's, This is rubbish..
''The Trick Is To Keep Breathing,'' by Janice Galloway is a novel with a particularly arresting opening. The stream of consciousness narrative used by Galloway pushes the reader into finding themselves trapped inside the troubled mind of the main character, Joy Stone and is then left there by Galloway to witness Joy's suffering and eventual recovery. Joy Stone is revealed to be a severely depressed woman due to the sudden drowning of her lover Michael, this haunts and controls Joy's emotions throughout the novel. The opening section of, ''The Trick Is To Keep Breathing,'' sets the tone for the rest of the novel through Galloway's early uses of typography and imagery, all of which are further developed in the later sections of the novel. This essay will examin to what extent the opening provides a successful introduction to the text as a whole, whilst referring particularly to Galloway's continuous use of typography and imagery.
From the early pages of the novel, the reader is given broken up clues into Joy's past through Galloway's use of flashbacks of Michael's death. These flashbacks act as a subconscious interruption in Joy's mind, reminding her of the event that shapes her frame of mind for most of the novel, as if she is trying to remember certain events of her past which she has chosen to blank out, ''You never know what you might need to recollect later.'' The reader at this point knows of Joy's unstable mind but is unaware of the causes. These flashbacks are in pieces that the reader must place together to find out the full picture of Joy's depression, this also closely represents Joy's frame of mind at this early stage of the novel as her thoughts are scattered and Joy herself is using these flashbacks to look back and understand her own thoughts. This intrigues the reader into looking closely into these flashbacks and placing them together, in order to understand what has happened to Joy in the past. This idea is later developed in the later parts of the novel, ''I must always wake up from these dreams and know he's really dead after all.'' This reveals clearly to the reader a sign of recovery by Joy, a contrast to the earlier Joy who was just coming to terms with the death of Michael but now realises that he is no longer alive and the flashbacks are only memories of him.
Light and water imagery also play a significant part in revealing Joy's state of mind to the reader. Light and water imagery is also used in the very early stages of the novel and throughout. Light and water are described by Joy as being dangerous things when they are, to normal people, everyday things in life. At the start of the novel Joy choses not to look at light but prefers to sit in the dark, ''for a number of reasons''. This clearly reflects Joy's mood at this point as the dark room sets a depressed atmosphere which is how she feels now that she no longer has Michael in her life. Light imagery used by Galloway also helps to show the recovery that Joy makes. In the last few pages of the novel the reader sees Joy transformed, ''I hear the rise and fall, the surf beating in my lungs. Reach for the bottle. Watch the lights'', she is no longer scared of light and begins to see it in a positive way.
Water also plays a significant part in Joy's recovery. Joy's fear of water originates from the loss of Michael due to the water drowning him, she therefore sees it as a threat, ''sucking at the sole,'' this is a play on the word ''sole'', as water took Michael's life away and the word, ''sucking'', may represent the water sucking Michael out of this world and away from Joy. However, by the end of the novel Joy also shows her recovery made in this area too, ''I going to swim,'' this shows Joy's realisation that water will not hurt her and she begins not to see it in such a negative way.
The opening section of, ''The Trick Is To Keep Breathing,'' does provide a very effective opening to the rest of the text. The opening introduces the main indicators of Joy's recovery that will be used by Janice Galloway in the stream of consciousness narrative such as flashbacks and imagery. Galloway's use of flashbacks from the early moments in the novel intrigue the reader into wanting to know more about Joy and how she has became as troubled as she is revealed to be in the opening section. This captivates the reader into Joy's mind and allows the reader along with Joy to piece these flashbacks together, which encourages the reader to read on. Light and water imagery are Galloway's main sources of conveying key points of recovery made by Joy in the novel. The light and water imagery used by Galloway in the opening is used to be at a complete contrast in the light and water imagery at the end, showing clear signs of recovery being made by Joy.
Becca D
From the early pages of the novel, the reader is given broken up clues into Joy's past through Galloway's use of flashbacks of Michael's death. These flashbacks act as a subconscious interruption in Joy's mind, reminding her of the event that shapes her frame of mind for most of the novel, as if she is trying to remember certain events of her past which she has chosen to blank out, ''You never know what you might need to recollect later.'' The reader at this point knows of Joy's unstable mind but is unaware of the causes. These flashbacks are in pieces that the reader must place together to find out the full picture of Joy's depression, this also closely represents Joy's frame of mind at this early stage of the novel as her thoughts are scattered and Joy herself is using these flashbacks to look back and understand her own thoughts. This intrigues the reader into looking closely into these flashbacks and placing them together, in order to understand what has happened to Joy in the past. This idea is later developed in the later parts of the novel, ''I must always wake up from these dreams and know he's really dead after all.'' This reveals clearly to the reader a sign of recovery by Joy, a contrast to the earlier Joy who was just coming to terms with the death of Michael but now realises that he is no longer alive and the flashbacks are only memories of him.
Light and water imagery also play a significant part in revealing Joy's state of mind to the reader. Light and water imagery is also used in the very early stages of the novel and throughout. Light and water are described by Joy as being dangerous things when they are, to normal people, everyday things in life. At the start of the novel Joy choses not to look at light but prefers to sit in the dark, ''for a number of reasons''. This clearly reflects Joy's mood at this point as the dark room sets a depressed atmosphere which is how she feels now that she no longer has Michael in her life. Light imagery used by Galloway also helps to show the recovery that Joy makes. In the last few pages of the novel the reader sees Joy transformed, ''I hear the rise and fall, the surf beating in my lungs. Reach for the bottle. Watch the lights'', she is no longer scared of light and begins to see it in a positive way.
Water also plays a significant part in Joy's recovery. Joy's fear of water originates from the loss of Michael due to the water drowning him, she therefore sees it as a threat, ''sucking at the sole,'' this is a play on the word ''sole'', as water took Michael's life away and the word, ''sucking'', may represent the water sucking Michael out of this world and away from Joy. However, by the end of the novel Joy also shows her recovery made in this area too, ''I going to swim,'' this shows Joy's realisation that water will not hurt her and she begins not to see it in such a negative way.
The opening section of, ''The Trick Is To Keep Breathing,'' does provide a very effective opening to the rest of the text. The opening introduces the main indicators of Joy's recovery that will be used by Janice Galloway in the stream of consciousness narrative such as flashbacks and imagery. Galloway's use of flashbacks from the early moments in the novel intrigue the reader into wanting to know more about Joy and how she has became as troubled as she is revealed to be in the opening section. This captivates the reader into Joy's mind and allows the reader along with Joy to piece these flashbacks together, which encourages the reader to read on. Light and water imagery are Galloway's main sources of conveying key points of recovery made by Joy in the novel. The light and water imagery used by Galloway in the opening is used to be at a complete contrast in the light and water imagery at the end, showing clear signs of recovery being made by Joy.
Becca D
Kirsten's Trick Essay
5/4/07 Practice Essay- "The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" Kirsten Mcgill
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" by Janice Galloway is a novel which has a particularly well chosen title. The title is very relevant and is used effectively in preparing the reader for the novel overall. This essay will examine in detail the significance of the title and how Galloway's use of it helps the reader's appreciation of the text as a whole.
The title suggests that the novel will centre around the idea of breathing to stay alive, which most people would think of as a simple and natural function. However it is proven to be a very difficult and akward one for Joy, which she finds needs a lot of effort. The character of Joy Stone is very troubled and suffers with depression throughout the text. This only adds to the effectiveness of the title, in that it sums up her feelings towards life and how she feels she is not living, but rather existing. During the course of the novel the reader follows Joy through a journey of grieving and slowly watches her recover. In this time they realise how difficult living is for Joy and how much she struggles with everyday tasks, such as eating or breathing or washing, " There is no such thing as lunch". Joy makes these everyday things a massive deal and finds everything difficult in one way or another.
Galloway cleverly uses narrative structure and punctuation to convey fast speech to illustrate the breathing pattern of Joy, by doing this the reader realises the extent to which Joy is aware of her breathing and how much she has to think about how to breathe. Ironically at the end of the novel the name of the book is quoted: "I read somewhere the trick is to keep breathing", by doing this the reader portrays the importance of the title and Joy's recovery throughout the text. The use of the word Trick would suggest that Joy is going to recover and be alright in the end. This satisfies the reader to know that the character who's life they follow will get back on track and that she is going to get better.
It is made clear to the reader at the beginning of the novel that Joy's partner, Michael drowned, while the couple were on holiday. The irony of this is that Michael stopped breathing when he died. This gives Joy a real fear of water and throughout the novel she does everything in her power to avoid it: "Sucking at the sole" the use of the word 'sucking' suggests a threat and conveys water in a negative way. However as Joy progresses in her recovery she hits a turning point when she no longer fears water but shows her recovery by making the statement: "Maybe I could learn to swim". This ultimately shows the character of Joy turning her life around and recovering from the depression she undergos. Joy's recovery as a whole portrays the true meaning of the title, as it shows that if you try hard to keep breathing and don't give up you see the results in terms of recovery and this ultimately makes breathing a 'trick' to living as if you stop breathing you are giving up on life and any chance of recovery is abolished.
In conclusion, the reader is left feeling uplifted and satisfied that Joy did not give up on life but instead lived through depression and in doing so gained the reward of recovery, as breathing for Joy is no longer an effort but an almost natural function to her. Galloway's use of the title is very clever, in that it sets the reader up for the rest of the book and sums up the theme and meaning of the book in only a few words.
"The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" by Janice Galloway is a novel which has a particularly well chosen title. The title is very relevant and is used effectively in preparing the reader for the novel overall. This essay will examine in detail the significance of the title and how Galloway's use of it helps the reader's appreciation of the text as a whole.
The title suggests that the novel will centre around the idea of breathing to stay alive, which most people would think of as a simple and natural function. However it is proven to be a very difficult and akward one for Joy, which she finds needs a lot of effort. The character of Joy Stone is very troubled and suffers with depression throughout the text. This only adds to the effectiveness of the title, in that it sums up her feelings towards life and how she feels she is not living, but rather existing. During the course of the novel the reader follows Joy through a journey of grieving and slowly watches her recover. In this time they realise how difficult living is for Joy and how much she struggles with everyday tasks, such as eating or breathing or washing, " There is no such thing as lunch". Joy makes these everyday things a massive deal and finds everything difficult in one way or another.
Galloway cleverly uses narrative structure and punctuation to convey fast speech to illustrate the breathing pattern of Joy, by doing this the reader realises the extent to which Joy is aware of her breathing and how much she has to think about how to breathe. Ironically at the end of the novel the name of the book is quoted: "I read somewhere the trick is to keep breathing", by doing this the reader portrays the importance of the title and Joy's recovery throughout the text. The use of the word Trick would suggest that Joy is going to recover and be alright in the end. This satisfies the reader to know that the character who's life they follow will get back on track and that she is going to get better.
It is made clear to the reader at the beginning of the novel that Joy's partner, Michael drowned, while the couple were on holiday. The irony of this is that Michael stopped breathing when he died. This gives Joy a real fear of water and throughout the novel she does everything in her power to avoid it: "Sucking at the sole" the use of the word 'sucking' suggests a threat and conveys water in a negative way. However as Joy progresses in her recovery she hits a turning point when she no longer fears water but shows her recovery by making the statement: "Maybe I could learn to swim". This ultimately shows the character of Joy turning her life around and recovering from the depression she undergos. Joy's recovery as a whole portrays the true meaning of the title, as it shows that if you try hard to keep breathing and don't give up you see the results in terms of recovery and this ultimately makes breathing a 'trick' to living as if you stop breathing you are giving up on life and any chance of recovery is abolished.
In conclusion, the reader is left feeling uplifted and satisfied that Joy did not give up on life but instead lived through depression and in doing so gained the reward of recovery, as breathing for Joy is no longer an effort but an almost natural function to her. Galloway's use of the title is very clever, in that it sets the reader up for the rest of the book and sums up the theme and meaning of the book in only a few words.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
'Trick is' essay - Kirsty
‘The Trick is to Keep Breathing’ by Janice Galloway is the story of one woman, Joy Stone, suffering and eventually recovering from depression. The novel is one with a particularly well chosen title. This essay will look at why the title is well chosen, through its links to imagery running through the novel, the irony held in it, and its links to the novel’s conclusion.
Water imagery runs throughout the novel, linking to the fact Joy’s partner Michael drowned. For this reason, the water imagery is usually negative; Joy describes the furniture in her living room as ‘bits of sunk ship’. The image of sunk ships and shipwrecks link water with death, reminding us of its destructive force, just as it has destroyed the man Joy loved.
But by the end of the book, when Joy has began to recover from her depression, the water imagery becomes less negative, she even considers learning to swim. She says ‘I read somewhere the trick is to keep breathing, pretend it’s not unnatural at all’, This is the sentence the title is taken from, and the fact that Joy is now seeing water as something that can be handled by a ‘trick’ shows she sees it less as a force of destruction. She still sees swimming as something unnatural, showing she is not completely free of her fear of it, but this sentence acts as a big change from the constantly negative images of death conjured by water previously in the book.
There is also an irony in the to be found in the title: It can be seen to mean the trick to living is just to keep breathing. Breathing is a natural, easy, automatic process. In contrast, living for Joy is not easy at all. She has reached a stage where she can barely function. She does not eat and is alienated from her own body. She says ‘hands are bastards, so many separate pieces’. This shows how difficult she finds it to use her own body, and reflects the fact she herself is in ‘pieces’. Despite semming to have few physical health problems, she has to ‘haul’ herself up the stairs. ‘Haul’ suggests great physical difficulty. She is so alienated she describes her tears as ‘blisters. Little moon craters on the paper’. She hardly realises she is in fact crying, showing how far detached she is from her own emotions. ‘Blisters’ suggests pain, and ‘moon craters’ great distance, alienation.
But despite this dark irony, the title ‘The Trick is to Keep Breathing’ is also a hopeful one. It suggests there is a ‘trick’ to making life go on after a terrible event like the death of a loved one, and tells the reader that Joy will eventually find it. And she does: Throughout the novel there is negative imagery to both water, as mentioned previously, and light. This negative attitude to light shows Joy is in a dark place, and perhaps doesn’t want the truth of her situation illuminated. But by the end of the novel, Joy is considering learning to swim, and sits to ‘watch the lights’, showing she no longer dislikes brightness. Her recovery has begun.
Essay. Minging. Too Tired. Sarah btw
Practice Essay.
“The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” by Janice Galloway is a novel which has a particularly effective opening. This novel is about a women who breaks down so severely after her partner tragically drowns, by accident at the beach. Joy, the main character feels completely lost without Michael and doesn’t know how to function without him. This novel opens with a flashback starting the journey into Joy’s unstable mind. This study will examine the opening in detail, referring closely to light and water imagery and the first flashback. It will also discuss to what extent the opening provides a successful opening to the text as a whole.
The text provides clues, mainly through flashbacks, as to what happened with Joy’s life and reasons for her unstable mind. The first flashback, “You’ll never know what you might need to recollect later, when the significance of the moment might re appear.” This is the first of the clues. It is reminding the reader that they should look out for hidden messages concerning Joy’s past as this will help the reader work out what happened to her. This effective opening immediately provokes the reader to appreciate the rest of the text as it comes as they are almost demanded to pay attention to every detail in case it is needed later on. This first flashback pushes the reader on to the start of the novel introducing Joy’s unstable mind and fear of light and water.
Light and water imagery are very important to the text. They play a part in showing Joy’s state of mind. At the start of the novel Joy cannot look at the light, she sits in the dark “for a number of reasons” This lack of light reflects her state of mind, everything seems dark now Michael is gone. The light makes her feels worse. This imagery is carried on throughout the novel and is made clear to the reader at the very start. “No matter how dark the room gets I can always see.” The first reference to light is negative. It reflects Joys mind and mood. She feels dark. She doesn’t like the light. “Brightness disagrees with me.” Later on the reader still notices Joy’s problems with lights, “The kitchen is bright, even at this time in the morning.” Joy doesn’t want her life to be bright, she can’t be bright without Michael. “I make tea in the dark” Joy does not act normal. Another sign that she is in the dark constantly, not only emotionally but physically. She won’t turn on the lights, not even to make tea.
Towards the end of the novel the reader can see Joy recovering as she says “I watch the lights” Joy is looking at the light in a positive manner for the first time. This reflects her mood. She can look into the future at this point. Joy is no longer dark and depressed but is starting to move on from the loss of Michael and see’s the light in her life is back.
Joy see’s water as a threat. Right from the start of the novel Joy not only see’s light I a negative way but also water. She is discriminating against water because of the way Michael was taken from her. During the text there are many references towards water reminding the reader of Michael’s tragic ending.
“sucking at the sole”
soul
A play on the word “sole.” tells the reader that Joy is scared of the water through the word “sucking”, this sounds very unpleasant. Joy thinks water is something dangerous. She talks about it sucking at the sole of her shoe but also her soul. She thinks water will kill her like it did to Michael.
“I read somewhere the trick is too keep breathing.” A reference to the title but also a sign of recovery. Michael died because he stopped breathing and this is how Joy felt, she couldn’t breathe anymore however now she sees that to recover she must just keep going. Breathing is now something natural for her.
Her recovery is also shown through Joy wanting to learn to swim. “Maybe I could learn to swim” She wants to go into the water, something that she was terrified of at the beginning of the novel.
“The Trick Is Too Keep Breathing” opens with power and holds the reader right to the end. The opening provides a successful start to the text as a whole as it introduces many of Joy’s fears and obsessions right from the first few lines. The reader can feel Joy’s pain and understands how she feels. The light and water imagery established in the first lines help to show Joy’s unstable mind and this makes the reader understand her feelings and past. This, on its own, provides a successful opening to the text as a whole as the imagery is carried on throughout.
“…the surf beating in my lungs. Reach for the bottle. Watch the lights.” Joy is recovering. She talks about water in a calming way and she is watching the lights.
Sarah
“The Trick Is To Keep Breathing” by Janice Galloway is a novel which has a particularly effective opening. This novel is about a women who breaks down so severely after her partner tragically drowns, by accident at the beach. Joy, the main character feels completely lost without Michael and doesn’t know how to function without him. This novel opens with a flashback starting the journey into Joy’s unstable mind. This study will examine the opening in detail, referring closely to light and water imagery and the first flashback. It will also discuss to what extent the opening provides a successful opening to the text as a whole.
The text provides clues, mainly through flashbacks, as to what happened with Joy’s life and reasons for her unstable mind. The first flashback, “You’ll never know what you might need to recollect later, when the significance of the moment might re appear.” This is the first of the clues. It is reminding the reader that they should look out for hidden messages concerning Joy’s past as this will help the reader work out what happened to her. This effective opening immediately provokes the reader to appreciate the rest of the text as it comes as they are almost demanded to pay attention to every detail in case it is needed later on. This first flashback pushes the reader on to the start of the novel introducing Joy’s unstable mind and fear of light and water.
Light and water imagery are very important to the text. They play a part in showing Joy’s state of mind. At the start of the novel Joy cannot look at the light, she sits in the dark “for a number of reasons” This lack of light reflects her state of mind, everything seems dark now Michael is gone. The light makes her feels worse. This imagery is carried on throughout the novel and is made clear to the reader at the very start. “No matter how dark the room gets I can always see.” The first reference to light is negative. It reflects Joys mind and mood. She feels dark. She doesn’t like the light. “Brightness disagrees with me.” Later on the reader still notices Joy’s problems with lights, “The kitchen is bright, even at this time in the morning.” Joy doesn’t want her life to be bright, she can’t be bright without Michael. “I make tea in the dark” Joy does not act normal. Another sign that she is in the dark constantly, not only emotionally but physically. She won’t turn on the lights, not even to make tea.
Towards the end of the novel the reader can see Joy recovering as she says “I watch the lights” Joy is looking at the light in a positive manner for the first time. This reflects her mood. She can look into the future at this point. Joy is no longer dark and depressed but is starting to move on from the loss of Michael and see’s the light in her life is back.
Joy see’s water as a threat. Right from the start of the novel Joy not only see’s light I a negative way but also water. She is discriminating against water because of the way Michael was taken from her. During the text there are many references towards water reminding the reader of Michael’s tragic ending.
“sucking at the sole”
soul
A play on the word “sole.” tells the reader that Joy is scared of the water through the word “sucking”, this sounds very unpleasant. Joy thinks water is something dangerous. She talks about it sucking at the sole of her shoe but also her soul. She thinks water will kill her like it did to Michael.
“I read somewhere the trick is too keep breathing.” A reference to the title but also a sign of recovery. Michael died because he stopped breathing and this is how Joy felt, she couldn’t breathe anymore however now she sees that to recover she must just keep going. Breathing is now something natural for her.
Her recovery is also shown through Joy wanting to learn to swim. “Maybe I could learn to swim” She wants to go into the water, something that she was terrified of at the beginning of the novel.
“The Trick Is Too Keep Breathing” opens with power and holds the reader right to the end. The opening provides a successful start to the text as a whole as it introduces many of Joy’s fears and obsessions right from the first few lines. The reader can feel Joy’s pain and understands how she feels. The light and water imagery established in the first lines help to show Joy’s unstable mind and this makes the reader understand her feelings and past. This, on its own, provides a successful opening to the text as a whole as the imagery is carried on throughout.
“…the surf beating in my lungs. Reach for the bottle. Watch the lights.” Joy is recovering. She talks about water in a calming way and she is watching the lights.
Sarah
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