CLEAR Education is here to bring you another blog post!
This time we are going to dive into Favel Parrett’s Past the Shallows and how it represents the inconsistencies of relationships, inviting us as the responder to reconsider contrasting familial relationships, as we understand that they have the power to both empower and hinder.
Let’s dive into it.
Topic Sentence:
Parrett’s novel explores the inconsistent nature of familial relationships à they have the power to both empower and destroy.
Elaborate – Provide context and frame up your example:
The novels omniscient perspective provides a personal insight into the Curren boys’ contrasting relationship with their parents.
Example #1
The inconsistencies of these relationships are revealed through the harmful paternal relationship between Steven and his two sons, revealed in,
‘“Dad had Harry by the shoulders and he shook him like a rag doll.”
The simile, ‘like a rag doll,’ is used to create violent visual imagery that enhances Steven’s damaging actions towards his son, Harry, as he is enraged during one of their abalone fishing ventures.
Example #2
As the boys are then thrown overboard, the audience is able to reconsider the inconsistencies of relationships, as Miles’ memory of his mother then provides emotional comfort during this life-threatening situation. This is exemplified through the flashback:
“‘[w]arm enough, sweetheart?’.... He felt the warmest he had ever felt … [h]e was sinking down, into warmth, into light.”
The repetition of the metaphoric ‘warmth’ suggests that Miles’ memory of his mother is comforting, providing him with a sense of solace in an antithetical setting. The inconsistency of the maternal and paternal connection does however allow us as the audience to greatly reconsider the empowering and damaging nature of relationships.
Be sure to always be utilising your ideas and the key terms of the question throughout the paragraph in order to answer and engage with the question!
*Please note that while this information is a great starting point for these texts, relying solely on the information in this post will not be enough to get a result in the top bands.