Growing Up by Joyce Cary [PDF]

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GROWING UP BY JOYCE CARY About the author Joyce Cary (1888-1957) was born in Londonderry. (You may think of Joyce as a feminine personal name, but in this case it is a man's name.) He studied art in Edinburgh and Paris before reading law at Oxford University. Joyce Cary was a Red Cross orderly in two Balkan wars and served with a Nigerian regiment in World War I. In 1920 he returned to England, settling in Oxford, where he lived for the rest of his life. Cary published many novels (beginning with Aissa Saved in 1932) and stories. He is perhaps best known for the character Gulley Jimson, a painter, who appears in a trilogy: Herself Surprised (1941), To Be a Pilgrim (1942) and The Horse's Mouth (1944). The Horse's Mouth was made into a feature film (1958) as was the 1939 novel Mister Johnson (filmed in 1990). Growing Up is one of five short stories in the posthumous collection Spring Song, from 1960. What happens in Growing Up? The story is very simple in outline. A man comes home from work for the weekend. He plays with his daughters, who attack him. In the struggle their pet bitch bites him. The girls tend to his wound, and he goes out to his club for some male company. Beneath this simple narrative, lots of other things are happening.  The wild garden reflects the wildness of the girls.  There is a clear divide between daughters and father, they do not fully

communicate with him, but then he does not with them either.  Mr and Mrs Quick seem to neglect their daughters with his work and her social life.  The daughters are presented as untidy and dirty, certainly not the sweet innocent daughter figures the father imagines them to be.  He almost seems scared of his daughters and when Jenny and Kate do

communicate with him, it is in a savage manner.  They are violent to the dog. The language becomes angry, violent and fragmented

to emphasise the horror of the situation.  Robert Quick is shocked, but his remonstration is pathetic and results in the

savage game where his daughters attack him like a wild animal.  He almost seems like a bullied child here.

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 They talk to him like he is at least an equal and, in fact, inferior to them when they inspect the plaster they have placed on his cut.  They show adult seriousness and responsibility when handing round cake at the

tea party their mother holds.  He realises they have changed, grown up and he is older too, their relationship has changed. The themes of this story Like several of the authors, Joyce Cary chooses a title that suggests one of the themes of the story – that of growing up. This appears to refer mostly to the two sisters, Kate and Jenny. Later we see that it may also apply in a way to their father, Robert, who has been able to play with them for years, but now sees a time when he will be cut off from them, good only for paying the bills. The author makes this idea clear in the last sentence of the story. Another theme might be nature – and this story looks at nature in human, animal and vegetable terms. We see • the way the garden grows wild, • the way the bitch, Snort, plays and •

the way the girls act

In all three cases there is a contrast between ideas of cultivated and civilized nature and nature in the wild or untamed – a contrast that appears clearly as the girls go from a ferocious attack on Robert, to acting as nursemaids, and tending to his wound. (Which of these is the real nature of the girls? A trick question – their nature includes both of these.) A last theme might be that of self-consciousness – especially Robert's concerns about his vanishing dignity and the meaning of his life, as his children become independent. The characters in the story Robert We see the story through Robert's eyes, and have access to his thoughts. He seems very different from his sensible wife (who does act like a grown up). He is very close to his daughters who have missed greeting him on his return home only once in several years. The fact that he recalls this incident so clearly shows the importance for him of their concern. When the girls attack him, Robert has no means to defend himself. Here are two possible reasons. • He is not able to control his daughters by force of personality. Page 2 of 7

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He wishes not to use physical force for fear of harming them.

Do you agree with either reason? Can you think of any others? What else can we say about Robert? The picture is a little ambiguous. For example we cannot say whether Robert is realistic or not. • On the one hand we learn that he has "lost most of his illusions" and knows that children are "honest". • But he also wants to share in his daughters' world. • When he looks for some comfort he does not turn to his wife, but to male society even though he sees it as boring. Jenny and Kate The girls in the story are Jenny (twelve) and Kate (a year older). They appear sometimes as individuals, but also as a pair who act together. Here are some of the things they do. Individually • Jenny reads a book and asks her father to lift her onto a wall. • Kate plays on a swing. • Jenny is alarmed by the wound whereas Kate still laughs when she sees it. Together they • attack the bitch (Snort) • fight their father • tend his wounds We read that they adore each other "and one always came to the other's help". (We cannot be sure if this is information from the writer to the reader, or what Robert is thinking. It could be either.) The girls have some contradictory feelings. We see that growing up does not mean becoming more sensible or like real adults. The girls' excitability and wildness makes them in some ways less responsible than when they were younger. We see this contrast in the way they speak to their father. Look at what they call him: "Paleface" and "Paleface Robbie" or "Daddy". What does each of these names tell you about the girls' feelings at the time? They know that "paleface" is a name used in Western films by "Red Indians" (the old name for Native Americans) - and they are here suggesting that they are savage, like the stereotyped view of the "Red Indians" in the cinema. We can see this contrast in some other "before" and "after" comments. • Before they attack Robert, the girls chant: "Kill him – scalp him. Torture him". • After they have attacked him, Jenny says, "We've got to wash your bite" while Kate, who fetches the water for the washing, says, "Daddy – sit down – how dare you get up?" Page 3 of 7

Other characters The story also shows us Robert's wife and her friend, Jane. Unlike the girls, these two adult women seem far removed from Robert's concerns and outlook. There is no hint of a close personal relationship. It seems (to Robert or the reader?) that they see themselves as responsible - they "run the world", while children (of all ages) amuse themselves. "Old Wilkins" does not appear directly – but his description may serve as a grim warning of what Robert may be fated to become, as he retreats into the security of his club – it is safe but utterly boring. Yet it passes the time. Joyce Cary's technique The narrative viewpoint This story is presented through Robert's eyes, but not in his voice – so we can never be sure that what we read is always exactly what is in his mind. We see his ideas mostly directly but this is not the case for the girls. Language The story has lots of interesting kinds of language use. In an exam, you may have limited time in which to comment on this. Here are a few examples. You may like to select those you understand and agree with, and arrange them into order, as a revision aid. Word choices Sometimes these are surprising. When we read that Jenny is reading we learn that she does it furiously. (Line 33). Can you see why this is both odd and yet quite appropriate? Elsewhere Joyce Cary uses clichés or stereotyped words. Do you think he does this knowingly? Does he wholly agree with the ideas that these phrases normally suggest? For example, Robert imagines himself as an old buffer (line 149) and thinks of Wilkins (line 158) as a crashing bore. Simile What effects does the writer archive with similes? Here are a few examples, for you to comment on: • a bamboo likened to a spear (line 71) • a garden rake compared to a lance (line 89) • the girls' bones compared to birds' legs line 95) Explain what the image means and how it tells you more about the thing it describes. What other similes can you see, and how do they work? To help you out, here are some possible explanations of the last image. (It should be easy to find the most appropriate!) • The girls' bones are like birds' legs because they end in claws. • The girls' bones are like birds' legs because they have feathers above them. Page 4 of 7

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The girls' bones are like birds' legs because they look thin and fragile to Robert. The girls' bones are like birds' legs because they of are a similar size, shape and colour.

Patterns The writer uses patterns of balance with repetition or antithesis. Look at this example: "The original excuse for this neglect was that the garden was for the children...The original truth was that neither of the Quicks cared for gardening." (Lines 11 to 13) By using the same words initially, the writer makes clearer the contrast between the Quicks' public and private explanations, before showing how the original excuse over time became true. Dialogue How does Joyce Cary use the exact words that people speak (shown as direct speech) to suggest their character and the situation at various points in the story? Look at these examples, and see what they tell the reader: • "Tiger, tiger" (line 76) • "Hi, Jenny - don't do that. Don't do that, Kate..." (line 83) • "...Kill him - scalp him. Torture him." (line 91) • "Sit down, Daddy - sit down - how dare you get up." (lines 127-8) • "No, I'll get on the wall. Put me up." (line 170) Attitudes Attitudes in the text In this story the attitudes we learn about most clearly are those of Robert. He has a sense of a world where he knew his place, and could find happiness in it - but now that is all changing, and he feels alarm at what may become of him. Attitudes behind the text How far does the story show (or suggest) assumptions about the world that the author makes? The characters in it may share some of the frustrations of those in other stories, but their world seems more stable in some ways – Robert can seek shelter in his club, but cannot leave. In a way he could, of course, leave (it is physically possible and not illegal) – but this is not present as an option to him, nor does it appear so to the reader. Attitudes in the reader Can you find any evidence of what Joyce Cary assumes about his readers? Here are two ideas that may help you get started. • Robert wants to escape from the company of the women in his house. But only temporarily. The idea that he might leave home for good is not here presented as an Page 5 of 7

option – marriage appears to be permanent for men like Robert, even if they find little or no pleasure in it. • Joyce Cary does not explain what Robert's club is. When the story was published (in 1960) this might not have been a difficulty for its readers (typically adult and educated). Is it clear to readers of the Anthology (young people, mostly) in the 21st century? Comparison It is easy to make comparisons in the story. We are led to make comparisons between these things, among others: • the attitudes of Robert contrasted with those of his daughters or his wife; • gardens that are wild and those that are cultivated; • wild and tame behaviour in a family pet; • civilized and primitive or savage behaviour in people; • childhood and adulthood (and the bit in between). Can you think of any others? You can also, of course, compare this story with others that have a similar theme - stories about growing up and gaining independence (like Indian Camp). Implied meaning Are there any things in the story that are not what they at first seem? Are there situations that are gradually revealed to be other than what first appears? Readers and reading Reading the text Say what you think the story means in a literal sense and in terms of theme, character and setting. Look at details of imagery, language and symbolism. Reading the author Try to explain what, in your view, the author wants us to think at various points. In doing this you should refer to his narrative methods. For example, are we meant to sympathize with Robert or see him as a pathetic figure, or perhaps both? Reading the reading Be prepared briefly to explain your own understanding of the story, and how this changes while you are reading it for the first time, and also on subsequent readings, where you notice more details. Will your own sex and age affect the way you read the story? Would, for example, a teenage girl with a middle-aged father read the story in the same way as a middle-aged man with teenage daughters? Students taking the exam may belong to the first group; teachers (and the author of this guide) may belong to the second group. Responding to the story Page 6 of 7

This story invites the reader to see it from different viewpoints – how would the events here appear to the other direct participants (Jenny, Kate and Snort) or to those (Mrs. Quick and Jane Martin) who learn about it from the girls and Robert? How would Robert explain it to Old Wilkins at the Club? From: The AQA Anthology for English and English Literature http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/anthology/aqaanthologyprose.htm

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