“In narratives, what we are not told is just as important as what we are told.”
Write about the significance of the gaps or of the untold stories
Script 1
It is true to say that for most narratives, the untold aspects are no less important than those mentioned explicitly. The context of writing and of reading are often essential to shape our understanding, and the deeper meanings and interpretations are often implied; in addition, the unreliability of a narrator may push as to a conclusion completely at odds with the stated message.
This is most noticeable in „The Great Gatsby‟. We cannot rely on any characters for any great length of time, not least because of their questionable moral values (with extra-marital affairs and sexual promiscuity at the heart of the novel). Gatsby lies about his past, ridiculously claiming in chapter IV to have “lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe”, and Nick explicitly states as a Narrator that the “very phrases were worn so threadbare that they evoked no image”, yet soon afterwards, Nick is made to believe him, an effect so preposterous that Fitzgerald couches it in mock poetic terms: “I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his broken heart”. (It should be noted that Fitzgerald‟s own interpretations was that his work was a mixture of poetry and prose, and so the mocking result may be unintentional; I do not find him to have been successful.) Yet, however we feel about Nick‟s reliability, the story of Gatsby‟s past remains sketchy – a gap – as it is not convincingly told. But rather than being a fault, this heightens the enigma that Gatsby is. A further gap, linked to Nick‟s unreliability, occurs in chapter II, when Nick admits, “I have been drunk just twice in my life, and the second time was that afternoon”. This ensures a gap in his recollection, and some ambiguity over the ending of the chapter which has led some readers to draw the conclusion that Nick may be hiding his homosexuality, having found himself in MrMcKee‟s bedroom: “he was sitting up between the sheets, clad in his underwear, with a great portfolio in his hands”. Like Gatsby‟s hidden past, in which he built up his fortune through bootlegging, this leads to the interpretation that Nick, like the rest of America, and particularly the East Coast, has become corrupt in its decadence. (Such gaps help to dismantle the supposed American dream, showing how the way in which money is made comes from immorality and illegality but the gaps also show that love has its own darkness especially when we remember that homosexuality was regarded as immoral at the start of the twentieth century).
There are numerous, other untold stories in „The Great Gatsby‟, some due to Nick‟s hazy narration: a notable example is that of the eyes of DrEckleberg, which George Wilson takes for the eyes of God, despite the assurance of Michaelis that “That‟s just an advertisement”. The advertisement seems to have its own story which is not told. It seems to represent the hollow nature of America: like the original settlers who imbued the “fresh, green breast of the new world” with “the last and greatest of all human dreams”. Like Gatsby with regards to Daisy and the “orgastic future” of
7the green light, Wilson also builds his dreams higher than they can go and fails to acknowledge the reality (killing the wrong person). Yet because Wilson‟s story is told from Nick‟ s viewpoint, the reader is never certain what Wilson actually might have believed. Thus the gaps and untold stories in „The Great Gatsby‟ serve to demonstrate the falsity of wealth, class and status in America as well as that of love and of the American dream.
A sharp contrast to this is found in „The Kite Runner‟. Here the gaps are about unimportant things: there is a gap of several years between chapters 9 and 10, after Hassan leaves Kabul and before Amir does; there are also several gaps coming later in the story to speed events along and to skip the normal, non-traumatic years spent in America. The effect of this is twofold. First, it shows that the story is about certain elements: Amir‟s relationship with Hassan and with Baba are more important than his teenage years without Hassan or his mid-life years after Baba‟s death, so these years are missed out. Secondly, it enables Hosseini to adjust the timing so that events within the narrative match up to the real events in Afghanistan: the close link between politics and private lives is very important in this book, with Assef joining the Taliban and so being in a position to seize Sohrab and be found by Amir on his return. The gaps of completely untold stories push the „told‟ stories along faster, ensuring that the pace in quick enough to maintain interest without losing any integrity.
However, there is another type of untold story in „The Kite Runner‟: the stories which are hidden for some time but which characters later become aware of. When these stories come out, they increase and realise the feelings of guilt. For example, Soraya‟s confession of her past is difficult for her, shown by halting phrases such as “there was a long pause at the other end” and “a silence followed”, but it is more difficult for Amir because he cannot tell his story yet. His feelings do not remain untold, as he provides first person narrative that fully shows his emotions: in this case, Hosseini switches between emotional, fragmented shorter sentences (“I envied her. Her secret was out spoken”.) and longer confessional sentences to show the range of emotions he feels. He is similarly shown to be emotionally vulnerable when he finally finds out the truth about Baba and Hassan: “all I could manage was to whisper “No NoNo” all over and over again”. The untold stories are here used as the driving force behind the integral theme of guilt and redemption, with the build up of emotions caused by hiding these stories serving to heighten the tragedy (and our emotive response to it).
Script two
Writers can use gaps in the narratives to ensure a sense of intrigue is maintained and the reader is kept interested. Also, the revelation of key characters and points of the narrative can be delayed or entirely absent from the story told by the writer, and this adds to the development of story and characterisation as the reader fills in the gaps using their own imagination.
F. Scott Fitzgerald‟s „The Great Gatsby‟ is a prime example of delayed revelations and large gaps in the narrative.This 20th Century tragedy uses a framed narrative structure throughout the novel, but it is most apparent in the first chapter. Throughout the whole of this chapter the reader hears only mention of Gatsby, the title character, and when he is introduced as „a figure‟who gives the „intimation that he was content to be left alone‟. This tells the reader nothing of worth as to Gatsby‟s character and instead only creates a desire in the reader to learn more.
Throughout the novel, Nick Carraway (the intradiegetic narrator) reports the rumours and whispers about Gatsby „I heard he killed a man‟, „he was an Oxford man‟ and these rumours are only put to rest at the very end of the novel after Gatsby‟s death. The use of these gaps in the narrative demonstrate how fully the reader relies on the narrator to be truthful in their description and characterisations, as well as how the characters can be so different from the expected. Such a subverting of expectations lies at the heart of the novel.
To conclude, writers can use their narratives to express their own ideas, even by including untold stories and gaps in the narrative. This can make their narratives even more engaging to the reader as to fill in the narrative gaps ideas have to be drawn from the text. This in turn allows the writer to express their message within the text more clearly.
Significance of descriptive language
Script 3
Similarly, description is a vital part of Rime of the Ancient Mariner in various ways. Firstly the description of the Mariner‟s appearance shocks, yet somehow engages the reader. The archaic “Ancient” Mariner persuades the reader he may be very old and knowledgeable, and this followed shortly after by the description of his appearance to shock and mystify the reader. The, “skinny hand”, and “glittering eye” are both used to describe the Mariner‟s appearance, engaging the reader and characterising him in a supernatural way. This builds the tension, and also arguably indicates the genre of this poem to being a mystery. Arguably though, the description of the wedding guest that also engages the reader. Firstly the “wedding guest here beat his breast”, but later, “he cannot choose to hear”. This allows the reader to question the hold the Mariner has over him, and also his ability to “hold him with his glittering eye”. This description also perhaps encourages the view that the wedding guest is a framing device, used to replicate the reader within the poem.
Descriptive language is also important in the setting of the, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. The “green”, “icecaps” and the supernatural, descriptive imagery of the, “tyrannous storm blast”, engages the reader and alters the tone and genre of the text to a “thrilling adventure”. This adds to the tension, but also through the description of the setting where, “The Bloody sun”, the “hot copper sky”, and the, “slimy things”, allows a different interpretation of the text written in the romantic period, such imagery may have been perceived as supernatural, and perhaps a warning against discovery and exploration. Coleridge may have been trying to emphasis the perils of exploration as beyond human inhabitance lies the reality of the nature beyond.
Finally, description in the Ancient Mariner is vital to us and the wedding guest, as this is a retrospective story and therefore description provides the key, and the window, to painting mental pictures of the settings and events within the poem. In this way, description is vital for the reader to both follow, and engage with the Mariner.
Report for Teacher
Script 1
Bd 6
In this question, the candidate tackles „gaps‟ and „untold stories‟ in a variety of ways always tailoring the analysis to each particular text. So, for example, the candidate suggests that Fitzgerald‟s using Nick Carraway as an unreliable narrator in The Great Gatsby necessarily means that there will be gaps. Indeed the candidate goes further by saying that all the characters have questionable moral values and therefore gaps in stories are inevitable since none can be trusted. This may seem an unusual way to approach the question but it works. The discussion about Gatsby‟s claim that he lived like a young rajah along with Nick‟s recording of it, having seemingly been drawn in, is most sophisticated.
The candidate‟s second point about the gap in Nick‟s recollection as a result of his drunkenness is also relevant and ambitiously developed. The candidate explores the possibility of Nick‟s homosexuality by focusing on the incident where Nick finds himself half dressed in MrMcKee‟s bedroom. The discussion which follows is certainly interesting if not entirely convincing. Nick‟s possible homosexuality is linked to Gatsby‟s – and America‟s – decadence and immorality which shows that the candidate is grappling with the significance of the untold story. The same can be said of the paragraph about George Wilson. The point about the advertisement is not exactly a „narrative gap‟ but the candidate does sustain an argument and extends it into the discussion about Wilson. The Section on The Kite Runner is clearer and stronger. Here the candidate discusses the compression of time in terms of gaps ad this point is excellently supported. There is sophisticated evaluation of Hosseini‟s and Amir‟s choices of omitting stories because they are unimportant compared to those of Hassan and Baba. The candidate here is operating at a very high level seeing the gaps as narrative choices enabling Hosseini to „adjust the timing so that events within the narrative match up to the real events in Afghanistan‟.
The range in the candidate‟s thinking is apparent in the second paragraph of The Kite Runner where the candidate sees untold stories in terms of the withheld stories of Soraya and Amir. This point is superbly developed in terms of significance, incorporating comments on narrative structure and the themes of guilt and redemption.
Script 2
Bd 4
This is a very clear response to the task and shows that the candidate understands narrative gaps. It is an answer which improves as it progresses and it suggests that the candidate became more confident during the writing. Relevant examples are used in the answer although there could have been more specific textual detail.
The answer begins with a focus but the opening paragraph is rather vague. The section on The Great Gatsby is somewhat hesitant though an implied gap of why Gatsby desires to be alone is commented on. This point is linked to the rumours that Nick Carraway hears and although relevant, the candidate then moves to discuss the unreliability of the narrator and how expectations are subverted. At this point the candidate seems to be on the edge of understanding, rather than in the centre.
Closer unpicking of the text would undoubtedly have helped this answer to move into Band 5.
Script 3
Overall, this is an interesting response to the task, if a little uneven. AO1 is generally good although there are some slips and errors. The answer fulfils the Band 4 descriptors.
The first part of the discussion of „The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is not quite so assured, largely because the examples of language chosen are not always descriptive. However some relevant comment is made about the mariner‟s „glittering‟ eye and „skinny hand‟ and how they contribute to the poem‟s mystery. The answer is at its strongest when the focus is on the description of the seascape and the changing colours of the sky. Here the candidate neatly links the description to the poem‟s being a potential warning of the dangers of exploration.