Домашнее чтение Уильям Сомерсет Моэм «Узорный покров» главы XXXIX - XLIII, 2, questions for discussion (Школьные сочинения)

2. Answer the following questions:

How are the English and French different in their attachment to the native country? What about you? Would you feel comfortable outside of

ussia?

According to Waddington’s opinion, English people don’t have a very strong attachment to the soil. They can make themselves comfortable in any part of the world. It is their national peculiarity which gets them rid of feeling homesick. Speaking about the French, they have a stronger attachment to their country which is almost a physical bond. They are not able to live the whole life somewhere else. When Waddington was talking about the nuns he emphasized that if they left the country, they never came back.

So they made a great sacrifice in order to help those who were in need.

Speaking about me, I have never been somewhere over the sea where I could immerse into a completely new world.

ut I suppose if I come to a new country, it would be interesting for me for not more than several weeks.

ecause if you are looking forward to moving, of course, you’ll get pleasure from it.

ut I think as soon as you get adopted to a place, you are likely to get homesick.

ecause though you are fascinated by a city, people or cuisine, you have grown up in a different place. I am sure that all travellers who fly to a new country for a long period of time, after a short happy period of impressions, start missing their home.

What levels of speaking a foreign language are mentioned in ch. XL?

Sister St Joseph could hardly speak English, Kitte had the same level of French.

ut though Waddington wasn’t good at this language and he was inaccurate, he could easily chit-chat with the nun without any difficulties. There were two levels of speaking a foreign language: halting (speaking with pauses which are results of the bad level of speaking) and fluent (easily speaking, with no pauses).

Were you impressed by a new character – the Mother Superior? Describe her in full detail and select one or two key character adjectives portraying her.

Of course, I was impressed by her as well as Kitty was. When she came into the room it seemed as though she was someone from another planet. She seemed to be a confident woman, who was somewhere higher than anyone around. In her appearance, there was no sign of pretence. Judging by Sister Joseph’s reaction the Mother Superior was adored and avoided at the same time. She was strict, but she could laugh at Waddington who made sarcastic remarks so she had a sense of humour. She understood how big his help was, so she often expressed her gratitude for what he had done for the convent. She was a strong woman who could put aside her thoughts about all the terrors she had seen to keep a conversation with Kitty and Waddington. Her external beauty reflected an internal one. Though she seemed to be that type of person who used to be obeyed, she was tolerant towards human weaknesses. Though the description of the character was quite big, and the most time they were speaking Kitty spent investigating her look, she didn’t manage to find a word which would completely describe her. Honestly, I still do not know for sure what adjective can be chosen. Maybe I would choose the word ‘well-rounded’. For me, it seemed that she was a person whose qualities were perfectly balanced. There was neither lack nor abundance of anything.

Do you find the statement ‘…this was a woman whose beauty, depending on character, had grown with advancing years’ paradoxical?

Of course, I don’t. I have no idea why this statement can be paradoxical. Maybe because it is thought that the older we get, the uglier we become.

ut for me, it’s a lie. There are thousands of examples of people whose beauty increases with years passing by.

ut maybe the author wanted to underline that the wiser she became, the more impressive she got. He wanted to show the contrast between the terrifying conditions she lived under and her strength and beauty which wouldn’t be broken.

How did Kitty feel in ‘another world situated neither in place nor in time’?

Undoubtedly, she felt uncomfortable. I think she was a little bit afraid of the Mother Superior because of her greatness and she didn’t know what to expect from her. I’m sure that Kitty felt like a small and weak fly in front of the woman who fought against the illness every day. Everything about the convent and people here seemed strange for her. Though she didn’t show her emotions much, it was clear that she was confused and lost. There were a lot of impressions for her, so by the end of the trip, he had had much food for reflection.

What made her cry in the final episode of ch. XLIII?

Well, I think she started crying because she was filled with emotions and impressions. We used to see Kitty gaily talking and joking, but this chapter showed her as a new character. I think she unconsciously compared herself to the Mother Superior who didn’t have a bit of resemblance to her and her mother. Even the character of Walter was found by her from a new point of view. She faced the terror that had been hiding outside, and I think this trip as another reference to the title.

DISCUSSION.

Can you trace a racist touch in Kitty’s perception of orphaned Chinese children at the convent? (ch. XLII)? Was that the first display of a white man’s arrogance in the novel? (go back to ch. XXXVI).

Yes, there could be a trace of racist touch. There were a big amount of words which reflected Kitty’s attitude toward those little children. For example ‘she shuddered a little’, ‘they looked to her hardly human’, ‘they were repulsive’. Kitty even couldn’t find any human trace in their faces, they rather were strange animal species for her.

Well, in chapter 36 we could see the first display of a white man’s arrogance. It steamed from Charles who treated Kitty like dirt. It wasn’t about racism, but about social status. Charles considered Kitty as a doll, who would like to get a better life with a prospective man, who was about to get promoted to the Colonial Governor. And to crown it all she loved him blindly.