Namesake

| | NAMESAKE NOTES | | QUOTE | TECHNIQUE | EFFECT | LINK | Welcome to paradise | Hyperbole | Gogol attempts to belong to the American culture which he seeks the love and acceptance of the Ratliffe’s whilst joining them in life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. This is especially the case when he holidays with them in New Hampshire , where Gerald welcomes Gogol to “Paradise”. Yet in achieving the paradise implied by the Ratliffe’s welcome remains oddly disconnected. | There is a level of connection and understanding which he is unable to achieve in his love of Maxine and life with the Ratcliffe’s | Roadtrips with other Bengali families, the fathers huddled in the front, children would sit in the back, slept whole families in a single room. | Descriptive detailImages of constriction and claustrophobia Contrast | Gogol contrast the ease and freedom of the Ratliffe’s with the clumsiness ,and timidity constriction of holidays Gogol went on as a child with other Bengali families. Composer uses third person to identify the responder with Gogol’s viewpoint creating images of claustrophobia, and constriction as the fathers “huddled in the front, children sit in the back” and they “slept whole families in one room” their lack of ease in their surroundings | | Lake where she first learnt to swim is an essential part of her. Gogol is able to imagine her past, present and future | Descriptive detail | Gogol wishes to share in that same sense of belonging to their environment and culture as the Ratliffe’s he is somehow not quite able to connect in the same way. | Gogol wants to belong in the Ratcliffe’s family but just cannot imagine him connecting to their way of life. | Maxine speaks of her summers here. This landscape in which she first learned to swim and is an essential part of her life where she lost her virginity.“It is easy to picture her growing old , sitting on a beach chair and returning here grieving to bury her parents, teaching her children to swim.. Teaching them to dive cleanly off the dock”. | Descriptive detail Juxtaposition | Maxine telling about the important milestone which demonstrates how the lake is an essential part of her life. Gogol is able to understand and clearly imagine her future, the accumulation of descriptive detail and juxtaposition of her experiences in youth and age showing how completely he understands her and her connection to this beautiful place, envisioning her entire life. | Maxine belongs to this place in a way Gogol never has and he seems to envy her grace and sense of hormony with her surroundings. The beautiful description is underpinned by sadness as he loves and understands her but doesn’t see himself by her side. | Gogol tells Maxine about his name and she replies “ thats the cutest thing” | Symbol of the name ContrastDiction | He understands her, but she doesn’t understand him and is not really interested in trying. | The reply from Maxine shows she has no interested in understanding his origins. Gogol seem to feel alienated after the reply from Maxine. | The Ratliffe’s own the moon that floats over the lake | Hyperbolic image of the natural world. | Ratliffe’s ease and command over the natural world as implied by Gogol’s impression that “the Ratliffe’s own the moon that floats over the lake. Hyperbolic image of the moon belonging to the Ratcliffe’s shows their domination over the natural world | | | | | | Gogol leaned over toward the stereo and turned down the volume a bit | Body languageVerb Contrast | Gogol’s body language suggest his rejection of his father’s loving gesture as well as the sense of kinship and cultural values it represents. He “leaned toward the stereo the verb lean showing how limited his effort is as he doesn’t go” to but “towards” the stereo. His disinterest even disrespect, is further suggested as he turns down the volume “ a bit” and contrast with the gentleness and affectionate of his father’s approach. | He is more attached to the music he listens to and the American values of freedom and it represents, than showing respect to his father and his cultural and values, as a good Indian boy would. The contrast drawn by the composer here creates our sense of the superior claims on Gogol of his Father’s kinship | Ashoke “notices Lennon obituary pinned to the bulletin board and then a cassette of classical Indian music he brought for Gogol..”still sealed in the wrapper. | SymbolJuxtaposition | The Lennon obituary is juxtaposed with the cassette of Indian classical music, “ still sealed in its wrapper” is a symbol of his disinterest, even rejection of Indian culture, whereas the poster on the bulletin board suggest his obsession with the American culture. | | | | BILLY ELLIOT NOTES | | QUOTE/SCENE | TECHNIQUE | EFFECT | LINK | “lads do boxing football or wrestling…not freaking ballet” | StereotypeColloquial language | Billy experiences a lack of understanding and acceptance of both his family and the community. The cause of this barrier for Billy’s sense of belonging mainly comes from the traditional view of masculinity in a lower class society. In the argument scene, the strong gender stereotype of the community which is represented by Jackie’s viewpoint “lads do boxing football or wrestling” indicates the community and family’s expectation of Billy, plus his disgust tone of “not freaking ballet” further stresses his prejudice to male ballet dancers.Close-up of Billy’s puzzled and upset expression, oppose to Jackie’s fuming expression suggest their lack of understanding to each other’s different notions of Billy being a ballet dancer. | Furthermore, the sequence where Billy is dancing angrily and bashing the posters of the miners symbolize his frustration to the stereotype of the community toward masculinity. | | | | | | | | | belonging is the song “Perfect”, composed by simple plan, which express the frustration and sadness of a person who feels as if he is not accepted, and doesn’t belong, due to his failure to live up to his father’s expectations. The colloquial language and first person ‘narration’ evoke a personal tone and create the effect of natural speech, resulting in an authentic-sounding expression of grief over the break-down of the relationship. Initially, the persona commands his father to communicate with him: “hey Dad; look at me... think back and talk to me”, emphasising how strongly the person feels. With the rhetorical question, “Did I grow up according to plan'”The persona effectively encapsulates his argument: that because he has not lived according to his father’s design, the father’s “disapproval” has resulted in him feeling alienated. This sense of alienation is expressed effectively with the repetition of the lines, “I’m sorry I can’t be perfect” in the chorus. Emotive language is also used throughout the text to articulate the lack of a sense of belonging: “I’m never gunna be good/ enough for you... I try not to think/ about the pain i feel inside”.