COMPREHENSION AND INTERPRETATION:

1. How do you interpret the following sentences and phrases: There was a bit of the magpie about Father (A) In my opinion, this means that Father is a kind of person who likes to olle t !arious ob"e ts# $e%t morning I woke at my usual hour, feeling like a bottle of hampagne (&) To feel like a bottle of hampagne means that you are !ery e% ited about something# 2. How would you describe Larrys world before his father returns from the war? (Be as specific as you can. The enter of 'arry(s world, before his father returns from the war, is his mother# &e fo uses on her and she is the only lose person to him# 'arry says that the war was the most pea eful period of his life# &e played with his feet e!ery morning# &is life was simple and lear# &e talks with his mother and argues with her, be ause he want a baby, but she doesn(t# !. "t the beginning of the story# Larry thin$s of his father as a %anta &laus'li$e figure ("# ( ) later# he compares him to a mountain (*# % . +hat change in Larrys attitude does this transition mar$? (o you thin$ the mountain simile is a good one? +hy (not ? At the begging of the story 'arry think of his father like a )anta *laus+like figure, be ause he omes and goes mysteriously and from time to time# I think that later he sees him as a mountain, be ause his father is a setba k to his mother(s lo!e and attention# &e has to limb this mountain to rea h the most important human in his life his mother# That(s why I think it is a good simile# ,. How would you describe the relationship between Larry and his father? +hat stages does the relationship go through? +hat tactics does Larry adopt towards his father? How does the father -iew Larry? The relationship between 'arry and his father is ompli ated# At first, 'arry does not are mu h about his father, he sees him rare and is pleased with him# After that the s ene hanges ompletely# They start this ne!er+ending war between them and always ompete with ea h other for the attention of 'arry(s mother# ,ut at the end, something happens and 'arry begins to feel sorry for his father# They both reali-e that their relationship is more important that this battle for something that is temporary# .. +hat role does Larrys mother play in Larrys world? How does Larry -iew her? How does he treat her? 'arry(s mother is the enter of his world# &e ra!es for her attention, be ause she is like his best friend and the most important person in his life# &e !iews her like someone who pro!ides pure lo!e and endless are# /. (oes the closing sentence pro-ide a good ending for the story? +hy (not). In my opinion it does not pro!ide a good ending for the story, be ause it feels like the story is in omplete and this senten e is not related to the story at all#

0. 12he irony of it34 (5 shows that Larry soon becomes aware of the inherent contradiction in wishing for his fathers return 6 a return that brings him no good. +hat other e7amples of ironic situations or statements can you find in the story? /ther e%ample of ironi situation is when )onny omes to world# 'arry wanted a baby for so long and when it finally omes he is pissed of this little reature# &e hates that )onny gets all of his mother(s attention# The ironi is that the statement 0on(t wake daddy1 be omes 0on(t wake )onny1# 8. +e ne-er learn Larrys mothers name# nor do we $now what she and Larrys father really loo$ li$e. How can these gaps in the story be e7plained? 2aybe these gaps are made to show us that their names or appearan es are not important# The important in the story is how the hara ters a t and how does 'arry feel about their a tions# 9. How would you describe the o-erall mood of the story. In my opinion, the o!erall mood of the story is negati!e and aggressi!e, espe ially when it omes to 'arry(s beha!ior about his father and )onny# 2aybe sometimes the mood is sad, be ause 'arry suffers when his mother is fo used on somebody else# 1:. ;f you had to pro-ide an alternati-e title for the story# what title would you suggest? The turning point in my life# 11. ;f you had to film one scene from the story# which scene would you choose and why? If I had to pi k only one s ene, it will be the end of the story# I like the way it tells the reader that people should understand ea h other, be ause tomorrow you an be in the same situation as someone you don(t like and sooner or later you may need their help# 12. +hat is the importance for the story of the choice of a childs narrati-e perspecti-e? How would the story change if it were told from the point of -iew of the mother or the father? I think it is important that the narrator is 'arry be ause in that way we an e%perien e his feelings and how a person with an /edipus omple% feels like# In that way we an easily understand his beha!ior#