ENG1501 NOVEL SMALL THINGS BY NTHIKENG MOHLELE SHORT STORY ANALYSIS

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ENG1501 NOVEL SMALL THINGS BY NTHIKENG MOHLELE SHORT STORY ANALYSIS THEME DESCRIPTIONS ENG1501 SMALL THINGS NOVEL SHORT STORY ANALYSIS THEMES; Theme: Love Explore the protagonist's view of love ... and how it develops from childhood to adulthood. Is he consistent in how he understands love throughout his life? The protagonist’s view of love is not consistent with how he understands love throughout his life. During his childhood, he fell in love with Desiree and did everything he could to please her. “She appreciated the efforts, yet dismissed them as heart-warming but unnecessary”. (p7) Desiree never encouraged nor discouraged his pursuit of her. The fact that he kept on pursuing his love for her, shows that he did not understand the true meaning of love. He accepted the fact that his love for her was big enough for both of them. During his adulthood, he thinks that “there are many kinds of love” (p46). He perceives his love for Desiree as “an eloping kind, a love that constructs and abandons nests”. When Desiree ended up in the hospital with ruptured brain arteries, the protagonist reflects on his love for her. He says: “Maybe this is what love is – accepting the crudest possible treatment with the grace of a wise monk, the selflessness of a saint”. (p110) This confirms that he is still not sure what love is supposed to be. He also has a relationship with Mercedes and he admits that he “cannot tell which love, which beauty, is greater: Mercedes or Desiree”. (p78) He never confesses his love for Mercedes. “I am, when with Mercedes, incapable of any other emotion than gushes of tenderness, ticklish sensations that prompt giddy feelings beyond measure”. (p78) This statement suggests that he does not understand what love is. He is so fixated on his love for Desiree that he is misinterpreting his feelings for Mercedes. In the end, he still thinks that Desiree “is the only soul for whom my heart throbbed”. (p150) Theme: Art and its place/ role in society The protagonist has a very conflicting understanding of art, and yet his artworks are appreciated by different people in the text. Explain how other characters view the protagonist's art, and what this might say about how they view the protagonist. The protagonist started writing poems to Desiree during his childhood. Desiree did not appreciate the poems in the way he hoped she would. She did not respond to his poems and “would be moody and aloof”. (p6) She did not encourage, nor discourage his pursuit of her. Mercedes is touched by the protagonist’s tears after watching a trumpeter perform at The Hugh student performance. She told him that his tears “are not to be taken lightly – for anyone who is so affected by art is a priceless gift to the universe”. (p63) This is probably what prompted her to buy him a trumpet for his birthday. She saw the potential in him to be an artist, because he is a sensitive soul. She refers to him as “My Poet”. The protagonist plays his trumpet on street corners and relies on donations in order to survive. Sometimes he hears peoples’ remarks while playing and on one occasion he heard The Hugh night-watchman say that he is a “Lazy shit, he thinks money grows on trees”. (p91) The night- watchman made his own assumptions about the protagonist’s situation, not realizing that he truly relies on donations to make a living. Theme: Inequality and Class CONTINUED.......................DOWNLOAD FOR BESST SCORES [Show More]

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