Essay Going Beyond the Pale with William Trevor - 1046 Words

Going Beyond the Pale with William Trevor In William Trevor’s short story ‘Beyond the Pale’, the reader is presented with a text that seethes with the angst of a writer whose country’s Colonial past has been gnawing on his bones. Although there is nothing unusual in this (especially in Irish writing), Trevor manages to fumble the ball in the course of his didactic strategy and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: what should have been a successful indictment of British Colonial Rule in Ireland becomes nothing more than the grumbling of an intelligent writer who cannot negotiate his patriotic feelings. The story is presented as a first-person narrative by one of four English holidaymakers who regularly visit a small hotel, Glencorn†¦show more content†¦It is this ‘lone man’ who will act as the catalyst for Trevor’s unfolding of ‘the truth’. Three of the four decide take a morning stroll to the nearby village of Ardbeag; the fourth, Cynthia, Strafe’s wife, decides to stay at the hotel. It is ‘after talking to Cynthia for nearly two hours’ that the ‘lone man’ walks down to the rocks and drowns himself. At this point Trevor’s narrative becomes unstuck. Milly is totally unsympathetic towards Cynthia - not least because of Milly’s own relationship with Strafe - and it is this that both destroys and de-storys the narrative’s credibility. Cynthia, needless to say, is upset by the events in which she has been involved. It is when she relates the full tale of the Red-haired man that Trevor discards story-telling for preaching and historicizing. Cynthia is an Irish history buff. She has an awareness of the history of the place in which she takes her holiday. Milly does not care a single fig from the Malseeds’ garden for Irish history, or for anything Cynthia says. Suddenly, Milly is relating dates, facts and figures from Irish History, along with names of obscure historical figures. It may be feasible for Cynthia to relate this kind of narrative, but her narrative is delivered at one remove - indeed, Cynthia is creating a doublebraided narrative, that of the Red -haired man and her own learned narrative of Irish History. Naturally, for the tale demands it, the Red-haired man was devastated by the loss ofShow MoreRelatedEthical Proposal for Allsaints2978 Words   |  12 Pagesfashion brand, as AllSaint. However, the brand announced to the DIVA magazine that, ‘†¦ The ethical angle is not a way we choose to promote the brand.’ How I can insert the ethical values into the Rock fashion brand as a whole? For this reason, I am going to focus on the sustainable development for the fashion business first. Initially, I will suggest the brand to apply the sustainable fabric, Cannabis Satival, for a small part of the collection, campaign name is â€Å"Healthy Hemp Party†, and hop itRead MoreExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pages/Corbis ECS8C_C01.qxd 22/10/2007 11:54 Page 606 606 MINISTRY OF SOUND with no links to the local drugs gangs. He even hired a psychoanalyst to cope with the gangland threats that followed his drugs crack-down: If they say ‘we’re going to kill you’, you know what you’re up against. But the threats [from London’s East End drugs gangs] are much more sinister. The word is fed back that if the business is cut off, they will follow you home, go for your family, stab you or murder youRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesweaponry, and they also examine the ways that advances in these enmeshed fields of scientific and technological endeavor became emblematic in the cold war decades of national power and prestige, as well as symbols of modernity itself. They go well beyond the usual focus on the two superpowers INTRODUCTION †¢ 7 to look at â€Å"nuclear politics,† which encompasses both state initiatives and popular dissent, in former but diminished national great powers such as France and Great Britain and