Outside Reading #6

The final idea that I had after finishing this book was that of how the relationship between Paul Tarrant and Elinor Brooke develops so much throughout the whole book. They start out as almost friends, but not quite. They are more than acquaintances, but not quite friends. When we first meet Elinor in the story, she is descibed by Paul. "He wasn't in the mooh for "the treatment"-- by which he menat the air of intimacy Elinor created between herself and any man she spoke to...No, he wasn't in the mood for Ms. Brooke"(Barker 14). Paul doesn't want to see Elinor, in fact, he sounds annoyed. He doesn't feel like dealing with her and her intimacy. He eventually learns to love her and in fact falls deeply and passionately in love.
Paul goes away to war to be a nurse, leaving Elinor behind. This strains their relationship and the almost fall apart. At one point Elinor says in a latter to Paul "I'm losing you Paul. Or, myself, I don't know." (Barker 283). Elinor can't stand the thought of losing Paul but at the same time she is. It's beyond her control. They love each other, but the distance and the change due to the war is almost to much for them to handle. Their relationship eventually last when Paul has to come home due to an injury. He comes to his senses and asks Elinor to marry him. A far off cry from annoyence.

Blog #5

Another important element to life class is death. Paul deals with death every single day in the hospital and it effects him and his friend Lweis every single day when at their post at the hospital. "Lewis shivered, wheather it was from the cold or the shock it's hard to tell...'Move' he says. Lewis backs away down the corridor." They learn to deal with the bloody, grotesque deaths of soldiers by shivering and moving on. They can't get to caught up with one patient lest it effect them and cause them to realize that they are surrounded by death. In a way these feelings mature Paul and Elinor's relationship. Paul becomes more drawn into himself and quiet and Elinor learns to naviagte around this.
Eventually one death effects Paul enough to shock him completely. The death of Lewis. "'Lewis' the red stain was spreading. Still the groans and gabbled words went on." (Barker 292). Lewis' death comes as a surprise and because of it, Paul can no longer work at the hosptial. Lewis' prescence is to strong there. His death shocks Paul enough for him to go home to Elinor. He has matured him enough to ask Elinor to marry him.

Outside Reading Post #4

Another important element of this story is camaraderie. Both Paul and Elinor wouldn't get by without each other if they didn't have a friend to help them along. For Elinor, it's Ruthie. She and Ruthie lived together for a time, and when Elinor wants to sneak into Belgium to see Paul, she knows who to call for help. But her intentions aren't always the best. "She'd used Ruthie, and not for the first time. She ought to stop doing it, and of course she would, but not yet" (Barker 203). Without Ruthie, Elinor wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. She needs Ruthie for support and guidence. Ruthie thinks the trip is a bad idea, but she helps anyway and Elinor is greatful for it.
Paul gets his fill of comraderie from Richard Lewis, a fellow nurse. He and Richard work side by side everyday. In a letter that Lewis sends to Elinor, he speaks of when she was there in Belgium with them. "I have happy memories of the evening the three of us spent together...don't be too concerned Paul is in good hands and is one the mend" (Barker 263). Paul was sick at the time, which is why he is writing. Lweis shows real concern for Paul and wants to make sure Elinor is informed because he knows she cares as well. He wants to do everything he can to make sure that Paul is well looked after and all will be in order when he is better. Lewis and Ruthie are the best friends Paul and Elinor could have in a greusome time of war.

As I continue to read Life Class I begin to realize that she's playing around with the chapter in that they are told from different perspectives. One chapter will be through Paul's eyes. Another will be through Elinor's. It's very similar to In the Time of the Butterflies. It's very interesting because that way we can see the same situation from two different perspectives. When Elinor goes to Belgium to visit Paul. "The room was not so powerfully full of Elinor's presence as it had been even a week ago" (Barker 230). He describes her time being there as powerful and meaningful. Her visit clearly meant a lot to him. He is head over heels about her that she seems to linger even after she's gone home to London.
When Elinor is in Belgium to visit him, her impression of the visit is completely different. She sees herself as being meek and shy and uncomfortable during the visit. "For the last part of the journey, she had a lump of fear in her throat, though the worst that could happen was that she would be refused" (Barker 209). Elinor was afraid that the worst would happen. She loved Paul to much to be too afraid. Had she but known that Paul loved her, all the anxieties could have gone away. If only the two characters could be reading the book, they would know that the other loved them and there was nothing to fear.

Outside Reading Q3 Post #2

So after having explored the idea of first impressions, I decided to look at the unhealthy relationships between some of the characters. Starting with Elinor and a friend of her and Paul's named Kit Neville. Neville somehow thinks he is in love with Elinor and will do anything to get her to sleep with him. He's basically a cad. Elinor is beautiful and everyone around her is immediately attracted to her personality and good looks as soon as they see her. Neville is pompous and creepy. He takes every opportunity he can to touch her. "At the door Neville put is hand between her shoulder blades, guiding her." (Barker 23). He just wants to touch her, rather have a real relationship.
Another relationship that was extremely unhealthy is that of Paul and a model at his art school named Theresa. Theresa is married but separated and her husband stalks her and threatens her but she can't divorce him because she has to prove adultery and battery. So it's an unhealthy relationship within an unhealthy relationship. Theresa lies to Paul in order to have him stay over at night. She pretends to get threatening letters from her husband so he'll protect her. He finds this out...and still stays with her until she moves back to her hometown in northern England. He is devastated and depressed for some time afterwards.This novel says a lot about relationships. Pat Barker means to show us that "loving" someone for the wrong reasons as well as lying to somone you love always ends very badly. She also shows us some good can come from the damage, as Paul and Elinor's realtionship blossoms.

Outside Reading Post Number One

As I was reading my book, Life Class by Pat Barker, I realized that a major theme throughout the book, but especially in the begginning was that first impressions aren't always as important as some make them out to be. Take the main characters Paul and Elinor for example. The story allways follows Paul and is told from his perspective, but from what other's say and some of Paul's actions we see that he is impatient, headstrong and easily swayed. But then we also see a side of him unlike our first impression. "Bastard. All Paul's long frustration...boiled over into hatred for this man with his florried cheeks and silver-topped cane. He jumped up and began striding along the path, meaning to cut them off before they reached the gate" (Barker 10) Paul decided to save a fifteen year old prostitute from a middle aged man because he feels so sorry for her. Almost immediatly after we make our first impressions of Paul, we are forced to change them because Paul does something so noble, a word not included in the original description above.
The same happens with Elinor. Through Paul we see her as a puzzle "She came towards until she was close enought to touch. A stir of desire, almost indistiguishable from irritation. He wasn't in the mood for "the treatment"-by which he meant the air of imtimacy Elinor created between herself and any man she spoke to" (Barker 14) We think she's some kind of,well, whore. But really she's not. If one reads on we see that Elinor is earnest and a hopeless romantic. So, first impressions can be incredibly decieving. One has to read more into someone before they really know the person. Firts impressions shouls never be trusted.

Final Outside Reading Post

So Anne flopped between ethical and unethical her entire life. Never an outstandingly good person, but was by no means a villain either. Anne's nature, a balance between good and bad, was viewed differently by different people. She lived her life on both sides of the fence, and it caught up with her. Henry, her wedded husband, was starting to be seen with Jane Seymour, a lady in waiting. "Henry needed a way to be rid of her, so he turned to the rumors of the court as a way out of his second marriage" (Denny 245).
Henry charged Anne with adultery and treason against him. She was tried by a jury of peers, one of which was her own uncle. "The court was unsympathetic to Anne's pleas and condemned her and her brother to death." (Denny 289). In a final act of kindness, Henry hired a french swordsmen to cut of her head so that it would be quicker. (the traditional beheading device was an ax, which often took three or four blows before the head was completely severed.) Anne is today remebered as a queen who gave birth to one of the greatest rulers England had ever seen. She is not remembered for what she did, but for what her daughter became.
Thanks for reading my posts! I hope I haven't sounded to much like Simon Schama!