1
Q
What are the main themes of the common Module?
A
- Individual & collective experiences
- Human qualities & emotions
- Anomalies, paradoxes, inconsistencies
- Storytelling
2
Q
How does Vertigo relate to the main themes of the common module?
A
Individual & collective experiences
* loss & grief
* processing the same experience differently
Human qualities & emotions
* compassion - community in Garra Nalla
* grief & loss
* desire for change
* resilience
Anomalies, paradoxes, inconsistencies
* inconsistency in human behaviour
* Anna wants to leave, watches TV
* Luke wants to stay, watches nature
* nature can destroy and create (bring together) simultaneously
Storytelling
* Characterisation - shown internal world
* Third person omniscient - allows us to see inside each character & provides insight into conflict of relationship
* Setting - oppressive urban environment reflects internal conflict, rural landscape seen as opportunity for rejuvenation (connecting to natural world)
* Structure - chronological, flashbacks to reveal backstory
* Embedded narrative/parallel narrative - chronicles of Sir Frederick Treves’ tour in Palestine mirrors Luke’s experience
3
Q
What is the pastoral genre in Vertigo?
A
- Romantic era
- we can find peace & solace in natural world
- urban world is oppressive
- draws heavily on setting/landscape/external world to reflect supressed grief of Luke & Anna
- Mimetic landscape - device used to mirror internal world of protagonists
- introduces her motifs - birds, the boy
4
Q
How does Lohrey use the urban environment to reflect the internal suffering of her protagonists?
A
- Mimetic landscape
- “hot monsoonal wash” - tactile imagery of humidity, oppressive, feel lethargic
- “the way that a smog haze settles by degrees over a bright morning” - oppressive setting, no direction or clarity in city
- “The paint on the ceilings was cracked and peeling and the rooms were dark with a sombre brown varnish on the woodwork… people spoke solemnly of their renovations” - gloomy, deterioration, bleak vocabulary, furniture looks sad
- “here in the city there has been no sign of the boy” - the landscape is not conducive to healing
- “There was a mournful bird cry” - introduces idea of grief and sadness, subverts positive of birds into sadness
5
Q
How does Lohrey reflect Luke and Anna’s urban ennui/malaise/disillusionment?
A
- “Her short blonde hair stuck to her skin in limp strands… she slumped back against the wall, sallow and greyish” - visual imagery, city is draining her
- “as if her robust beauty… was being preyed upon by an invisible vampire” - simile, juxtaposition, urban env. is draining & diminishing her
6
Q
How does Lohrey display the idyllic pastoral setting of Garra Nalla as a place where Luke and Anna hope to find peace/solace/acceptance?
A
- “warm shallow pools” - water symbolises rebirth & cleansing
- “Perfect, they thought; just perfect.” - idyllic imagery of natural world, draws parallel between Garra Nalla and garden of Eden, biblical allusion, celebrates beauty of natural world, ideas/conventions of pastoral genre
- “A deep coral sunset flared along the ridge of the western hills… the lagoon glittered in a wash of silvery pink” - romantic imagery, reflects initial optimism, showing potential
- Image of birds flying over sea - migration, seek liberation & freedom from the oppression of city, innate human desire for change when seeking external solutions to internal problems
- “It was the she-oaks that engaged her, soft clusters of them… a subtle blur of fine filaments swaying against the sky, or dropping to the ground in wispy canopies” - motif for resilience, she-oaks only thing that doesn’t burn, evocative images of serenity & beauty of natural world, generic convention of pastoral genre, juxtaposes imagery of city
- “He feels his breathing slow, and the strange, almost painful sensation of his heart expanding in the cavity of his chest” “this silent space of euphoric emptiness. And for the rest of his walk home he is elated” - characterisation, emphasising idea that natural world can offer space for personal growth/transcendence
7
Q
How does Lohrey foreshadow the transformation of the Australian environment into a hostile/antagonistic/dangerous force?
A
- subverts pastoral genre
- “But this is not Eden, this is drought country” “grasslands that are dried out and dun-coloured from seven years of drought” - begins to subvert ideas/images of Eden-like beauty of natural world, landscape becomes hostile/antagonistic force
- “Seven years of drought: it has begun to sound biblical; a curse.” - mimetic landscape, emotionally not getting what they need
8
Q
How does Lohrey display Luke and Anna’s early stages of intimacy?
A
- “gliding across the still black water, paddling stroke by slow stroke into a hot dusk.” - romantic imagery, reflects initial optimism and sense of healing, they are connecting
- Image of two swans on the lake - swans are untied, water is still, calm, and peaceful
9
Q
How does Lohrey depict the deterioration of Luke and Anna’s relationship?
A
- “Often he reads in bed while Anna, the night-owl, trawls through the cable news” - characterisation, foreshadows disconnection, Anna is not 100% convinced about the move, she feels disconnected, the TV is her connection to outside world, inconsistencies in human behaviour
- “it continues to harass her… Her skin turns to parchment, dried out and stretched tight across her cheekbones in a mask” - confronting visual imagery, metaphor, shows separate paths Luke and Anna are taking, nature is attacking Anna
- “the canoe lies idle under the veranda.” - symbol of their relationship, contrasts romantic imagery of part 1, connection is dwindling, increasing disconnection and detachment as they refuse to acknowledge their grief
- “the twisted black carcass, the slash of white feather down its middle, the broken neck splayed at a right angle, the crimson beak lying bright against the sandy stubble of the track.” - symbol of Luke and Anna’s relationship, their relationship is dying, juxtaposes the two united swans in P1
- “Anna collapsing onto the deck and he, alone, stepping to the edge of the boat and sprinkling the ashes over the white-tipped waves.” - they separated at the very beginning of this trauma
10
Q
How does Lohrey establish the boy as a symbol for their grief?
A
- magic realism genre
- “It’s like the boy, he reflects; they’ve never named the boy” - never discuss him, don’t acknowledge their grief
- “he has no control over the boy, who comes and goes as he pleases” - human emotion of grief, we have no control over our grief
11
Q
How does Lohrey establish the resilience of the natural world?
A
- “a colony of black swans” - symbol of resilience, survive fire
- “It was the she-oaks that engaged her, soft clusters of them… a subtle blur of fine filaments swaying against the sky, or dropping to the ground in wispy canopies” - motif for resilience, she-oaks only thing that doesn’t burn, evocative images of serenity & beauty of natural world, generic convention of pastoral genre, juxtaposes imagery of city
- “It burns hot in a spangled dance of embers and is reborn from a white bed of ash” - personification, from destruction comes renewal & finding resilience, mirrors human experience, we don’t grow unless we are constantly challenged
- “Australia, it seems, is a land of phoenix trees: fertile in extremity” - imagery, she-oaks are a symbol of destruction & renewal, paradox in Australian environment & human experience, we don’t grow unless we are constantly challenged
- “a dozen or more black swans have come out from the rushes to feed on the water.” - last time swan was a foreboding, ominous image of destruction and death, now it is a symbol of resilience
- “Miraculously, not all of the she-oaks in the garden burned.” - symbol and motif of resilience
12
Q
How does ‘The Land is Desolate’ mirror/parallel Luke and Anna’s journey?
A
- embedded narrative
- shared experiences
- “In mourning for the death of his daughter he has embarked on a journey to the source of all meaning” - mirroring/parallelism, both seek solace/healing/peace from grief and embark on physical journeys to find (spiritual) connection, seek external solutions to internal problems
- “Even Nature itself disappoints him” - foreshadows Luke & Anna’s challenges, particularly Anna
- “This dry, stony country, these wretched towns and villages… can this be the Promised Land?” - bleak imagery, rhetorical question, mirrors how Anna sees Garra Nalla
- “There is something about Sir Frederick that reminds Luke of his father” - we connect with narratives when they mirror aspects of our own life
- “outlying vineyards, orange groves, orchards of pomegranates and fields of new corn” - visual imagery of fertile land, contrasts bleak, dead imagery of previous places, growth and acceptance of grief
13
Q
How does Lohrey portray humans seeking change as an external solution to internal problems?
A
- paradoxes in human behaviour
- “In mourning for the death of his daughter he has embarked on a journey to the source of all meaning” - mirroring/parallelism, both seek solace/healing/peace from grief and embark on physical journeys to find (spiritual) connection, seek external solutions to internal problems
- Image of birds flying over sea - migration, seek liberation & freedom from the oppression of city, innate human desire for change when seeking external solutions to internal problems
14
Q
How does Lohrey portray the corrosive nature of the environment and grief?
A
- “But now here they are; a part of it” - metaphor, emotional drought, drought of their relationship
- “this dryness becomes a part of you, of your skin and hair, and your whole body” - metaphor
- “The air is so dry you can almost hear it crack.” - auditory imagery, hostile imagery
15
Q
How does Lohrey portray Anna’s sense of disorientation/disillusionment in Garra Nalla?
A
- “This dry, stony country, these wretched towns and villages… can this be the Promised Land?” - bleak imagery, rhetorical question, mirrors how Anna sees Garra Nalla
- “Now she belongs in neither place, like some migratory bird that has lost its bearings” - bird motif, simile
- “she falls into a spiral of panic; it is as if she is encountering a stranger. She finds she is looking at her husband in an almost impersonal way” - simile, vertigo
- “it continues to harass her… Her skin turns to parchment, dried out and stretched tight across her cheekbones in a mask” - confronting visual imagery, metaphor, shows separate paths Luke and Anna are taking, nature is attacking Anna
16
Q
How does Lohrey reflect Luke and Anna’s refusal to accept their grief/the boy isn’t real?
A
- “My God, he can’t even name it, thinks Luke in a spasm of bitter scorn… His father never could deal with the messy human dimension of feeling.” - dramatic irony, Luke hasn’t acknowledged it either
- “the boy nestled against her chest” - inability to let go
- Image of thickly wooded forest forming a tunnel of trees, entrapment, Luke and Anna are trapped in their grief
- “she seems to bleed out into it, as if she is part of one giant membrane that holds land, sea and sky together.” - simile, Anna becomes immersed in her grief as it is a part of her real world
- “that infuriating detachment… See, he doesn’t deal with things.” - dramatic irony
- “Where are you?… Is it something we’ve done, some oversight in our thoughts?… Have you decided, after all, to leave us?” - accumulation of rhetorical questions, desperate tone, desperate not to let go of the boy
- “The threat of loss is beginning to chew at her mind like a small, gnawing rodent.” - visual imagery, aggressive imagery, threat of losing her home brings back the feeling of losing her boy
17
Q
How does Lohrey portray Luke and Anna’s confrontation with mortality?
A
- “the twisted black carcass, the slash of white feather down its middle, the broken neck splayed at a right angle, the crimson beak lying bright against the sandy stubble of the track.” - accumulation of confronting imagery, foreshadowing
- acuumulation of ash visual imagery:
- “a carpet of ash.”
- “everything is coated in a thin layer of ash.”
- “And now all this grey ash, bringing it all back to him… the boy’s ashes in a tiny ceramic vial”
- “There is nothing to do but wait, and sweep up the ash.” - metaphor, symbol, there is nothing to do but confront their grief
18
Q
How does Lohrey portray a sense of vertigo/instability?
A
- “she falls into a spiral of panic; it is as if she is encountering a stranger. She finds she is looking at her husband in an almost impersonal way” - vertigo
- “It has caught an air current and is circling upwards in a slow, mesmeric spiral” - mirrors their own sense of instability
19
Q
How does Lohrey foreshadow the bushfire?
A
- “the smoke cloud is expanding, seeping out into the sky like a release of octopus ink.” - simile, ominous/foreboding image
- “the bedroom reeks of burning eucalypt: pungent, sweet and weirdly intoxicating.” - olfactory imagery, building tension
- Dark clouds image - dark, ominous, foreboding, dangerous, intimidating, Lohrey emphasises intimidating nature of fire about to force Luke & Anna to confront mortality
20
Q
How does Lohrey portray the environment as powerful and destructive?
A
- “Trees are exploding into fire-bombs and great shards of burning bark are being flung into the air and out to sea… the air is vibrating from the explosive force of the firestorm… small black embers are swirling and gliding on anarchic currents of air.” - nature is violent & chaotic, intense energy created through visual imagery, climax
- “A yellow and red fireball is unravelling from the black underbelly of the smoke cloud. In one incandescent arc it catapults high over the paddocks… the canopy explodes into flame.”
- “One minute the squall line of cloud, the next a maelstrom of smoke and flaming embers hurtling into the backyard.”
- “The noise of the wind is infernal; within its incendiary metallic roar he can hear the ferment of the trees, their hiss and crackle as they combust into a firestorm.” - auditory imagery, zoomorphism, bestial imagery
21
Q
How does Lohrey portray Luke and Anna’s resilience?
A
- “since the winds are eroding the topsoil of her garden it makes sense to plant more trees” - Anna showing resilience, working around the winds
- “The wool had smouldered, and smouldered, but had not blazed, and the ember had burnt itself out.” - sweater saved the house
- “The sweater had burnt anyway, and in its thick smouldering resistance it had most likely saved the house.” - sweater emerges as a symbol of resilience, a connection between Luke’s trauma experiencing his boy’s funeral & of the fire
22
Q
How does Lohrey portray Luke and Anna’s reconnection & acknowledgment of their grief?
A
- “she absorbs the shudder and heave of his body, clasping his back and drawing him into her.” - they have become one again, she supports him and acknowledges his grief
- “picks up her pill packet and drops it into the white plastic bin” – realised life is an endless circle of death & rebirth
- “It’s the boy… the sloop is for him, is waiting to carry him to his next destination. Ah, she says, so you are leaving us… she thinks, I am ready for this, and she raises her arm in a soft salute.”
- “Luke turns, and waves to Anna on the veranda, who waves back.” - reconnecting
- “he’ll never see that bird again, and he still doesn’t know its name” - connecting the bird and boy, nature and their experiences
