What is the significance in the way writers use time in their narrative?

1. 2. Language: Quality of Memory • The positive and negative lexis of Roseanne’s memory is portrayed through ‘It was a handful of feathers… and two masons hammers… the feathers immediately drifted away, dispersing like a little explosion’. Page 22/3 • Innocence of memory v corruption of society • Hammers acts as visual metaphor to infer authorial malevolence • Concept of hammers and feathers falling in synchronicity is represented as an idealistic metaphor for the equilibrium between the good and evil • in reality this test of gravity is flawed since ‘the feathers immediately drifted away’ portrayal of Roseanne’s entrapment as her freedom is surrounded by societies hand of conformity relating to the ‘handful of feathers’ • Reflects Roseanne’s eventual liberation evidenced by Dr.Grene stating ‘you are blameless’ Page 302illustrating her cathartic release ‘dispersing like a little explosion’ oxymoronic ‘little explosion’ conveys the idea of the insignificance of the revelations happening at the end of the novel and of her life • Introduction • Language: quality of memory • Structure: narrative ticking clock • Language and structure: analeptic and proleptic • Thematic Conclusion: Entrapment V Liberation • 5. Conclusion • Entrapment V liberation • Entrapped in time. • Liberated through retreat into memories (analeptic) • Liberated through the idea of death – ending of the novel – ending of time What is the significance in the way writers use time in their narrative? • 3. Structure: narrative ticking clock • Cissy’s cathartic outburst of the smashing of the clock is portrayed through‘the clock laid in its porcelain pieces’ Page 90. • ‘Pieces ‘– Ticking clock and piecing together Roseanne’s life and memories-proleptic to her quality of memory and her lack of the concept of time in her unknown age ‘so old that age has become something eternal’ liberated in her memories due to the delusional suspect narration like the liberated pieces of the clock • Creates parallels with the structural ticking clock. • The connotations of the clock smashing represents the fragmentariness of the novel and the fragility of time. • This also represents the jump in time  her childhood is destroyed and jumps straight to adult hood. • Roseanne’s innocence is being corruption as she is exposed to acts of insanity. • 4. Language and structure: analeptic and proleptic • Narrative plants – subtle proleptic reference to having a son, links to Dr Grene. Hints that she may be writing to someone and her Testimony may not be intentionally private. • ‘I’m not completely childless’ – unsure of her motherly role, creates parallels between her and Cissy, as Cissy was an absent mother. • Adds exposition to who the father of her child is. • Graphic recall of her birth ‘like a slice of mad cake’ pg 271. – links to the question of her sanity. • ‘my little creature of elbows and knees’ • ‘like a room of utter madness’ – proleptic of her admittance to Roscommon, demonstrating the link between her birth and the asylum. Suggests the room is the madness, not her, authorial are insane while she is sane. • Analeptic retreat to when she believes she was at her happiest, however she filters her memory's to place her childhood is a better light.