Mount Pleasant
In this short story by Mary –Louise Buxton, 2005, we get to look at the world through a little girl, called Elizabeth’s eyes which brings our minds back to the time when we were little and afraid of ghost and the dark. The short story is about this little girl’s everyday-life and that’s what makes it interesting, it brings some memories to the reader.
Elizabeth is the main character, a 6-7 year old girl who has an imaginary fantasy just like every other child at that age. (Elizabeth mentions that the boy on the picture she finds is about 9-10 years old, and says that he isn’t much older than her and that’s how we know that she is about 6-7 years old. (p.3 l. 59)) Elizabeth is a very polite child who listens to her mom when she tells her not to get dirty, she’s being careful because she’s afraid that her mom should shout at her but of course, like every other children, Elizabeth’s doing stuff her mom doesn’t want her too; “Mammy’ll take to me with a wooden spoon if she catches me ups the attic” (p. 2 l. 1) but she’s up there anyways. She has a sister who she’s shearing her bedroom with, and when the dark falls the two girls hear noises and footsteps from the roof and terrified they fall asleep.
Elizabeth’s parents are two whole different persons, her mother is a very strict lady and her father is on the contrary a kind and gentle man who isn’t that strict to the children. We get the impression that the mother is “dangerous”, that Elizabeth is afraid of her, and that she doesn’t like the way she separates the gender roles, which we see on page 1, line 28; “If I was a boy like my big cousin Wilf or like my babby brother George William, I could get filthy and dirty. But I don’t want Mammy to shout at me again today.”
When the children are out to play, Elizabeth and her brothers, sisters and cousins love to play outside, they feel like they could play forever, the days aren’t long enough Elizabeth says but when their mom tells them “now” they have to come
Elizabeth is the main character, a 6-7 year old girl who has an imaginary fantasy just like every other child at that age. (Elizabeth mentions that the boy on the picture she finds is about 9-10 years old, and says that he isn’t much older than her and that’s how we know that she is about 6-7 years old. (p.3 l. 59)) Elizabeth is a very polite child who listens to her mom when she tells her not to get dirty, she’s being careful because she’s afraid that her mom should shout at her but of course, like every other children, Elizabeth’s doing stuff her mom doesn’t want her too; “Mammy’ll take to me with a wooden spoon if she catches me ups the attic” (p. 2 l. 1) but she’s up there anyways. She has a sister who she’s shearing her bedroom with, and when the dark falls the two girls hear noises and footsteps from the roof and terrified they fall asleep.
Elizabeth’s parents are two whole different persons, her mother is a very strict lady and her father is on the contrary a kind and gentle man who isn’t that strict to the children. We get the impression that the mother is “dangerous”, that Elizabeth is afraid of her, and that she doesn’t like the way she separates the gender roles, which we see on page 1, line 28; “If I was a boy like my big cousin Wilf or like my babby brother George William, I could get filthy and dirty. But I don’t want Mammy to shout at me again today.”
When the children are out to play, Elizabeth and her brothers, sisters and cousins love to play outside, they feel like they could play forever, the days aren’t long enough Elizabeth says but when their mom tells them “now” they have to come