Riath

Owen Marshall uses animal imagery of a camel to describe Mr Thorpe in the short story ‘Requiem in a Town House’. The use of this animal imagery through similes attracts and maintains the readers attention because it makes the reader sympathize for Mr Thorpe. The reader wants to read on to know why he is like an old camel, what has led to this and why he is viewed in this way. ‘Mr Thorpe stood helplessly by, like an old gaunt camel’, ‘like a camel whose wounded expression is above it all’. These examples of animal imagery from the text create an image of Mr Thorpe like an old camel.Camels are known to be large, awkward and slow moving, so the comparison to the elderly Mr Thorpe is a negative one. Camels are also often put on show at Zoos and such places where they live in small enclosures, much smaller than they are used to. The comparison to Mr Thorpe is demoralizing and dehumanizing to elderly people but also makes the reader feel compassion an d sympathy towards him as he is living in a small house much smaller than he is used to and is confined just like an old camel.The authors purpose was to accentuate the entrapment that Mr Thorpe feels in the town house. This draws the readers attention to how elderly people are treated in society, often put to the side and their opinions ignored, decreasing their value of life. Animal imagery is equally used in Disconnections to attract and maintain the reader’s interest through the alienation of old people, especially towards the elderly woman, the main character. The lady has just suffered from a stroke and the older she’s become her memory is fading. The doddery woman cannot support herself as she walks.Ever since the horrific stroke, she has become very sluggish. She is well aware of her family’s opinions of her welfare and it makes her feel self conscious about herself. The woman has to walk into a room where her family sits waiting for her to come in †Å"watch her inching her wayward leg forward, an awkward stick-clutching crab. † This metaphor illustrates how the old woman walks, awkward, and stiffly jointed like that of a crab. It also highlights her difficult daily struggle to do things that we take for granted in our own life.Animal imagery is extended throughout the text describing her movement being similar to that of a crab’s. â€Å" As I crab into the room. † Sue McCauley effectively uses animal imagery to highlight the many struggles that old people have to go through daily and how much we need to appreciate the ability we have compared to that of an elderly person. She raises the issue of alienation many elderly feel as they are excluded from society and their family no longer want to look after them, but only look down at them.Owen Marshall uses the symbolism of the couch to represent Mr Thorpe in the Town House. Symbolism of the couch is used to maintain the readers interest throughout the short tex t. â€Å"In the corner was a heavy couch that had been brought in from the farm, but wouldn't fit in the house. † Like Mr Thorpe the couch doesn't fit in the Town House; there is no place for it, the couch would get in the way just as Mr Thorpe does. â€Å"Mrs Thorpe developed the habit of sending her husband out to wait for the post. It stopped him from blocking doorways†¦ The couch is stored in the garage and is heavy solid and collects dust. Mr Thorpe ends up spending a majority of his time on the couch in his garage, instead of in his town house that his wife has forced upon him in his retirement: â€Å"as his despair deepened, he would go directly to the couch, and stretch out. † On the couch lies an army blanket and an embroidered cushion. The army blanket has been with Mr Thorpe through thick and thin. The couch is full of history and was beloved just like Mr Thorpe.Just like the couch, Mr Thorpe is useless you could say; he too does nothing but collects d ust. The garage is the only place where Mr Thorpe can feel like he isn't being crushed by the tacky Town House. â€Å"As his despair deepened he would go directly to the couch, and stretch out with his head on the old embroidered cushion. † By comparing Mr Thorpe to an old, lumpy couch this maintains interest for the reader drawing curiosity as to why the comparison is being made. The author’s purpose of using this symbol is to represent Mr Thorpe as an outcast from society.Mr Thorpe has been banished into the shadows of the Town House just like the couch is banished into the dark garage. Mr Thorpe represents everyone who feels outcast and just like another old piece of furniture in a modern Town House. McCauley, also uses the symbolism of the buttons in Disconnection as a technique to help attract and maintain the reader in highlighting the effects on how she is slowing losing her dreams on being able to look after herself and she is just yearning to live in her own h ouse.The symbolism of the buttons is helped to uncover how much the buttons mean to her and help her to stay in reality and retain her short memory. ‘The buttons are too small. Too small. They slither away from my fingers, from my clumsy finger and thumb.. ‘ The reader starts to see it’s not the buttons getting smaller, but that she is slowly starting to lose grip of her life and is starting to struggle with the simple things in life like doing up the buttons.The purpose is to show how she is losing control of her co-ordination, but not only that she is starting to lose control of her life, she has no voice and her family will be the ones that choose her future. The symbolism of the title also attracts and maintains reader. On so many levels, the reader sees how the narrator’s life is disconnected. Throughout the story we see that she is having disconnections with her family, her limbs, neurons and her memories.We learn that all she wants is her independenc e and freedom of her own home but when she gets the chance to say what she wants, her mind goes blank and she fails to make any real sense. â€Å"You were my babies’ I announce†¦. I realise I am making no sense†¦ They have no idea what I’m trying to say and even if I went on to explain they wouldn’t understand†. The reader sees that her last chance to get her only hope has been ineffective and she has lost grip of her life, and no one else will be able to have the time and care to be able to help her with her last wish.McCauley shows how the other characters in the story are aware that this not the right thing to be doing, but they are not giving her a choice they are ready to get on with their life. This method is effective as it is a strong way of attracting the reader to read on because they want to understand how old people are alienated from the rest of the world. The purpose is to show how old people in todays world really have no hope in getting their last wishes as the youth want to get on with their own life and don’t have the time to look after them anymore.