Compare and contrast Fielding’s home and mother to Warings and Kingshaw’s own mother.
- Fielding’s relationship with his own mother is much more relaxed.
- Here ease, her clothing, her demeanour.
- Not fussy, accepting, not worried by the hamster’s mess.
- Farmyard smells and ‘dirt’, live animals – fecund! Noisy.
- Warings, oppressive, silent, old, dead.
- Mrs K fussy, outwardly caring but inwardly selfish.
- Appearances count, no depth of feeling
- Mrs K short skirts, dangly earrings
Compare and contrast Fielding with Hooper
Fielding:
- Extravert
- Open
- Carefree
- Sensitive
- Generous
- Sharing
- Matter-of-fact
- Has knowledge but shares it
- Talkative
- Natural
Hooper:
- Closed
- Nosey
- Introvert
- Vicious
- Greedy
- Cunning
- Manipulative
- Uses knowledge as a weapon
- Uses advantages
- Bossy
- Controlling
- liar
Explain why Fielding becomes so important to Kingshaw
- he shows how normal people are and shows K that is another way of living and being
- his easy acceptance of Charles, not pushing, not invasive.
- gives K hope that things could even will be different
- only Charles knows Fielding so he acts as an anchor outside the grimness of Warings and Hooper; his port in a storm
- Gives K hope about his new school
- Becomes a role model for Kingshaw’s behaviour.
Why do we as readers feel that Fielding’s friendship with Kingshaw could make all the difference to Charles
- Hill points up the difference between the way of life at Warings and the Fielding’s.
- We see Kingshaw finally talk to someone about his situation and although he doesn’t really understand he gives practical advice and we feel that if only Charles heeded it …
- We are shown Kingshaw’s realisation that things could be different as he processes the idea
- Hill portrays Fielding as rational, product of a normal family and situation and we realise the others aren’t really.
Could Fielding have done anything to change the outcome of the story.
- Probably not; he didn’t truly understand
- Didn’t take K entirely seriously
- Thought K should stand up for himself; quite scornful of K’s weakness but k doesn’t take it as criticism just wisdom.
- Who’d listen to an outsider anyway?
- In his world view K’s suicide would be incomprehensible.
Explain why Kingshaw is so upset when Fielding is invited over for tea.
- K feels he’s ‘lost’ his friend.
- K has lost this battle because Fielding will never fight
- Also feels he’s lost the only thing that was really his
- He sees Fielding trying to mediate between the two and realises he will never judge either him or Hooper; feels humiliated
- He’s appalled at his mother’s insensitivity
- He wanted to keep Fielding and Warings separate as his refuge.