Behind the Scenes at the Museum
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate AtkinsonE. M. Forster says that the first thing all novels have in common is that they tell a story. In your experience, what else do novels do? Discuss examples from the novel you have studied.In addition to telling a story, novels also communicate a vivid sense of experiences and attitudes to the reader. They do this by allowing the reader an insight into another person's, or group of people's lives. Experiences and attitudes are clearly communicated to the reader through the style that the story is told in, the language used and the ideas that the novel introduces to the reader. This helps the reader to feel a part of the novel as they share experiences with the characters.Novels make the reader aware of an idea, which they may not have thought about, prior to reading the novel. An idea in Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson is how attitudes can affect the way people relate, change and develop. We see the significance of this idea through the differing family relationships shown through Bunty's seemingly uncaring attitude to her children and Patricia's negative disposition towards her family and her life. Bunty revealed her regret of being burdened with a family
For her, marriage was the means by which she could achieve this. The female character's actions, quirks and qualities illustrate this throughout the novel. They did not take control of the situation or make pro-active decisions to change their circumstances. The prospect of life continuing as it was, was often too much to bear, resulting in the women taking any opportunity that offered escape from their current situation. Ruby narrates the story as a child throughout the earlier chapters, as she is growing up. We can see the limited omniscient narrator, Ruby, giving the reader an insight into another character's life during Footnote (iv) - Bonny Birds when she lets Rachel's point of view intrude on the story, "He'd be hers soon enough. The novel is narrated by Ruby, as an intrusive narrator during the chapters and a limited omniscient narrator during the footnotes. She confides her feelings about this matter to Ruby, who is too young to fully understand such emotions, ". They needed her because they were weak and she was strong. She had two broken engagements (due to the death of both fiancees) before she was finally successful in her attempt to become married. Atkinson is quick to establish an intimate relationship with the reader through the use of conversational tone. Alice took the chance to escape from her husband and children, (who she was fed up with) and ran away with a French photographer, never seeing her family again.
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