The Guilt
The Guilt
1. present the text (genre, title, author, year of publishing)
The Guilt is a short story written by Rayda Jacobs, it was written in 2001
2. short plot summary (exam: approx 5 lines max, now: may be longer)
Lillian is an old widow who lives alone in South Africa on a big property surrounded by ten feet high wall. She has two Alsatian guard dogs. One day a young man, William comes to her gate asking her for a donation. She gives him money, but he insists on working for the money. She hesitates, but lets him in anyway even though it gives her a bad feeling. The telephone rings and she goes inside her house. As she turns around William is standing at her door demanding to get more money. Lillian is terrified and she commands her dogs to attack him. She tells him to leave as she points a gun at him. William leaves her property and she is shocked of what happened or what could have happened. She sits down and drinks a cup of tea. In the evening she cries as she lay down on her bed.
3. analyse and interpret your text thoroughly (show that you are able to use relevant tools in both your analysis and your interpretation)
Narrator and Point of view:
It is a 3rd person narrative past tense, told from L.T.’s point of view
Society,setting,history
South Africa in late 90’s black people attacked white-owned farms and sometimes this resulted in murder.
Characters:
Lillian Thurgood is an elderly white woman (a pensioner) who lives alone. She is well protected by her guard dogs, her gun and the high walls surrounding her house. She feels safe in her home. She is afraid of strangers that knock on her gate both day and night begging for money, food and other things. She feels guilty and doesn’t want to seem like a racist. But it also angers her that these strangers make her feel guilty just because they are less fortuned. Even though she doesn’t feel safe letting William in, she wants to show him trust. When William corners her in her own home she is terrified.
1. present the text (genre, title, author, year of publishing)
The Guilt is a short story written by Rayda Jacobs, it was written in 2001
2. short plot summary (exam: approx 5 lines max, now: may be longer)
Lillian is an old widow who lives alone in South Africa on a big property surrounded by ten feet high wall. She has two Alsatian guard dogs. One day a young man, William comes to her gate asking her for a donation. She gives him money, but he insists on working for the money. She hesitates, but lets him in anyway even though it gives her a bad feeling. The telephone rings and she goes inside her house. As she turns around William is standing at her door demanding to get more money. Lillian is terrified and she commands her dogs to attack him. She tells him to leave as she points a gun at him. William leaves her property and she is shocked of what happened or what could have happened. She sits down and drinks a cup of tea. In the evening she cries as she lay down on her bed.
3. analyse and interpret your text thoroughly (show that you are able to use relevant tools in both your analysis and your interpretation)
Narrator and Point of view:
It is a 3rd person narrative past tense, told from L.T.’s point of view
Society,setting,history
South Africa in late 90’s black people attacked white-owned farms and sometimes this resulted in murder.
Characters:
Lillian Thurgood is an elderly white woman (a pensioner) who lives alone. She is well protected by her guard dogs, her gun and the high walls surrounding her house. She feels safe in her home. She is afraid of strangers that knock on her gate both day and night begging for money, food and other things. She feels guilty and doesn’t want to seem like a racist. But it also angers her that these strangers make her feel guilty just because they are less fortuned. Even though she doesn’t feel safe letting William in, she wants to show him trust. When William corners her in her own home she is terrified.