CRITICAL REVIEW OF A NOVEL example
Critical Review, Novel
December 2015
The
Use of Flashbacks in the Empty House
The Empty House
is a novel by a British novelist, Rosamunde Pilcher, published in 1973. In this
novel, Rosamunde tells not only about Virginia Keile’s joyless marriage and
ruined life but also about how Virginia struggles to make her life normal.
Rosamunde writes The Empty House as
romantic yet inspiring novel. The
romantic thing about this novel is that the male character, Eustace Philips,
can wait for Virginia for ten years, whereas, this novel is inspiring as the
readers can take some values of life and love. Besides, Rosamunde presents her
story with a plot that is filled with twists and turns which keep the readers
hook onto every word. Unpredictable plot is well-written so that the readers
are not able to figure out what will happen then but keep reading as the story
gets interesting.
This
paper aims to review the plot used in presenting the stories.
SUMMARY
The story begins when Virginia Keile decides to
recuperate herself at her friend’s house in Porthkerris, Cornwall. Meanwhile,
her children are sent to stay with her mother-in-law in London but then she
struggles continuously with guilt over leaving her children with their
grandmother and nanny. Nonetheless, visiting a memorable place after ten years
fills her mind with memories of her last visit and may be her best decision to
start a new life.
And the story goes backward to the moment when Virginia
and her mother had gone to stay in Porthkerris when she was seventeen. She had
met Eustace Philips, a farmer who is ten years older than her, who had been
such a kind man and understanding her more than Mrs. Parsons. Virginia’s
feelings for him were going deeper when her wealthy old-fashioned mother
instantly disapproved of both his occupation and life. She never wanted anyone
to disrupt her plans for Virginia’s future. They were back to London and
Virginia found herself married to Anthony Keile, a ‘suitable’ young man that
she hardly understands. Her life is surrounded by all the luxurious wealth yet
she feels lonely.
After the death of her husband in a car accident, Virginia
dreams of having a second chance to love Eustace whom she foolishly lost. She
also tries to live with her children and fills the empty house with love. She
struggles by herself, arguing her mother-in-law, her best friend, even the man
she loves. At last, Virginia finds what she needs in her life.
DISCUSSION
Plot
is a literary term used to describe the events that make up a story or the main
part of a story. There are two kinds of plot; flash-forward or prolepsis and
flashback. Flash-forward or prolepsis is a literary device in which the plot
goes ahead of time. Generally, a flash-forward represents expected or imagined
events in the future. It is an opposite of flashback. Merriam Webster defines
flashback as “an interruption of the chronological sequence (as of a film or
literary work) of an event of earlier occurrence.” Flashbacks are interjected scenes that
take the narrative back in time from the current point in the story. Both
flashback and flash-forward are used to create suspense in a story, develop a
character, or add structure to the narrative.
This
paper is aimed to analyze the plot that is used by the writer in presenting her
story. But the discussion is focused on one kind of plot – “flashback”. As the
explanation above, flashbacks function as the complement of a story.
In The Empty House, Rosamunde Pilcher uses
some flashbacks to recount events which one character went trough.But we have
to consider the difference between memory
and flashback. A memory is when a
character remembers something that happened or we can say it’s just a quick
trip inside the character’s head.
“…It was bitterly cold but quite beautiful and we
watched the moon rise from behind Boscovey Head. I do remember.” (p.11)
And she remembered what
he had said, that night he told her about Kirkton.“I’m just sorry that it had
to happen when we were both so young.” (p.225)
She remembered her
mother’s face, smiling across the railway carriage, the laughing protest.
“Darling! What an accusation. Of course not. You surely didn’t think . . .”
(p.238)
The
characters remember some things at glance. They capture the image from the past
but not actually go to where and when some things happened. On
the other hand, a flashback actually takes the reader back in time to another
place. This may be a quick detour or the plot may be reset at that point
in time and move forward from there.
They were married in London, in July; Virginia in a
cream satin dress with a six foot train and a veil that had belonged to Lady
Keile’s grandmother, and Anthony in a grey frock-coat and an immaculately cut
pair of sponge-bag trousers. They emerged from St. Michael’s, Chester Square,
with bells jangling, sun shining, and a small retinue of beribboned bridesmaids
… and hung about to see what turned up when the doors were opened. (p.205)
The
writer makes the readers go back to the moment when she tells past events. She
also makes the readers figure out where and when they are, what event the
writer wants to show that makes them know character’s past history, and how the
situation is.
According
to an article written by Paige Duke, flashback can work if it is written well.
The first criterion that must be had by a well-structured flashback is a
strategic transition. In Chapter 3 Rosamunde writes “She had been to Penfolda once before, only once, and then in the cool
half-light of a spring evening ten years before. (p.49)” then the readers are brought to the scene where they are
given some old information because it had happened sometime earlier before the
other past events happened. The scene the writer is detailing in this chapter
is not happening in the story time. The writer indeed makes a good transition
as the reader can figure out that they are told about Virginia’s past.
The
second criterion is that a flashback has to signal the reader that the writer’s
going back in time. It is written in Chapter 5 “There had been a special day, an April day of wind and sunshine. On
that day the tide was high, Virginia could… (p.113)”. The signal is
achieved by changing the verb tense. Rosamunde writes her story in past tense
so she writes the first sentence of the flashback in past perfect. This
grammatical change is so important. She does a great job by not making the
reader confused.
The
next criterion is the middle action. It is a storytelling which serves a
specific purpose. Every word, every line should tell the readers essential
information about the characters, their world, the emotional landscape that
forms who they have become. Rosamunde tells the past story of Virginia who
becomes such a lonely and sad woman. This is new information for the readers as
they can glean from this middle part of Virginia’s flashback scene:
That was the terrible thing. She didn’t mind. She
was apathetic, bored by Anthony and the outrageous schoolboy charm that had, as
far as Virginia was concerned, long since worn itself to shreds. And this was
not the first affair. It had happened before and it would doubtless happen
again, but still, it was daunting to look down the years ahead and see herself
tied for ever to this tedious Peter Pan. A man so unperceptive that he could
gaily embark on a clandestine involvement, and yet conduct the whole affair on
what was virtually his own.(p.223)
The next important flashback mark is
the last sentence. The writer is so
strategic in the way she brings the readers back to the main storyline. Let’s
take a look at how she presents the transition of the flashback ending.
And all the way home, she hugged his words close as though
they were a marvelous present that he had given her. But she never came back to
Penfolda.
Until today, ten years later, and a July afternoon of
piercing beauty. Roadside ditches brimmed with ragged … the color of hyacinths.
From the flashback, the most
important consideration is the effect of it. It has to affect the reader’s
understanding of the story and the character’s motivations. As a reader of The Empty House, I really enjoy how the
writer flows the story – the way she presents the story line, the flashback,
and the twists and turns of the story.
CONCLUSION
The Empty House is really recommended for novel lovers. It gives us such a
great story of a woman who struggles to fill her empty house. From what I present above, its flashback scene is
a great tool for setting the stage of the story, informing readers, and taking
them into the mind of the character. Its strong construction scene captivates
the reader’s attention and draws them deeply into the journey of the character.
REFERENCE
Duke, P.,
(September 8, 2014). Writing Flashback:
How to Make Them Work in Fiction. Retrieved December 13, 2015, from source
web site: https://www.standoutbooks.com/writing-flashbacks
Get the presentation HERE
Get the presentation HERE
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