The word choice of "repulsion" portrays how Cal feels disgusted by the prevalence of such antagonistic imagery.It's not really necessary to explain what 'repulsion' means or the effect it has on the reader. For an essay on a novel or drama, you need to talk more generally about the whole story, its characters and themes. You would probably only discuss the use of the word 'repulsion' in a poetry essay, where you would be discussing every line of the poem in a lot of detail.
Question -
Choose a novel in which the setting has a significant part to play in exploring a writer's theme and show how the setting increased your appreciation of the text as a whole.
Structure -
1. Introduction
2. Plot summary
3. Setting - the abbatoir
4. Setting - Cal's anxiety from living in a Protestant area
5. Characterisation - Cal's guilt over the murder
6. Themes - prejudice; Cal and Skeffington
7. Setting - the contrast created by the farmhouse
8. Conclusion
A novel in which the writer's use of setting has a significant part in the reader's appreciation of the text as a whole is "Cal" by Bernard MacLaverty. MacLaverty uses setting to effectively reveal the theme of guilt and violence throughout the novel. The setting in "Cal" is portrayed by the skilful use of techniques such as imagery, word choice and allusions.
Cal is a Catholic teenager living in a predominantly Protestant neighbourhood in Ulster. Though he and his family have felt the persecution of the Protestants, Cal cannot stand the violent tactics of the IRA. He is tortured by the memory of driving a getaway car after his friend murdered a Protestant in the Morton family, but he knows he will be labelled a traitor if he bows out of his role in the IRA. Cal's bind is complicated by his burgeoning love for the widow of the man his friend murdered.
MacLaverty’s use of setting to convey the themes of guilt and violence is first made evident in the opening of the novel when the abattoir is used as a symbolically significant setting as Cal visits the abattoir to talk to his father:
"his father appeared, holding two halves of a hanging carcase apart like a curtain."
The simile which compares the carcase to a curtain emphasises how Cal's father is able to endure such a grotesque and gross experience, allowing us to see how mundane and everyday such violence is in Northern Ireland.
Cal is also seen to be unsafe and uncomfortable all the time, as we see him becoming terrified when he hears something:
"Then he heard a noise downstairs and stiffened. There was someone outside. He unsnibbed the door and went quickly to his father's room at the front of the house"
The word choice of "stiffened" shows how fearful Cal is, even within his own home. The short sentence "There…outside" creates a tense and dramatic mood. It is also significant that this takes place in Cal’s house, the place where he should feel safe and secure. This shows that in the world of the novel, the ordinary, everyday location is insecure because of political violence.
It is clear that in Cal's house, he is able to contemplate his own guilt and reflect on his past:
"He went again to his bedroom to eat the ashes of what he had done."
This is a biblical allusion. Sinners were known to eat ashes as a form of self punishment and it is thought to be a necessary factor in atoning for sin. Here the eating of the ashes is metaphorical, suggesting how Cal's solitary contemplation on his role in the Morton's murder is extremely gruelling and arduous. The use of setting here allows us to have a better understanding of the theme of guilt and make us feel sympathy towards Cal as he appears an isolated figure, alone in his bedroom, thinking of the terrible thing he has done.
We can see Cal's frustration at the prejudice that is taking place, through the setting of the town:
"Even looking at his feet, Cal couldn't avoid the repulsion because the kerbstones had been painted alternating red, white and blue"
The word choice of "repulsion" portrays how Cal feels disgusted by the prevalence of such antagonistic imagery.
When Cal tells Skeffington, a member of the IRA, that he is unwilling to stay in the IRA, Skeffington cleverly uses setting in order to make a point:
"But I was in Derry that day. They had us cowering behind a wall…And we were all Irishmen living in our own country. They were the trespassers"
The allusion to Bloody Sunday reveals how its effects are pervasive. The word choice of "cowering" portrays the intensity of fear felt by the civil rights protesters, while "trespassers" indicates that the republicans believe the British army to be an unwelcome and oppressive force. Skeffington's use of "we" and "they" sets up a clear contrast between the British army and the republicans, and shows how this historical event has ensured that they are to be in conflict.
When Cal moves to the farmhouse, it is clear that the theme of violence is still present, despite the fact that he feels safe in the farmhouse:
"The heavily patterned net curtain twitched"
The curtain symbolises the Mortons' attempts to create a barrier which they can use to hide from the threat of violence. The word choice of "twitched" creates a sense of an uncertain, fearful movement, depicting how the murder of Robert Morton means that they feel no sense of comfort or reassurance, even within their own home.
In conclusion, it is clear that MacLaverty's use of setting helps the reader have a clearer understanding of the different kinds of themes that are involved in the novel. By his effective use of imagery, word choice and allusion, MacLaverty manages to make setting play a significant part in the novel, making the novel harrowing yet enjoyable to read.
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