A: Because It Is Running By ”She smelled of soap and gorse flowers, of sunlight and bracken and earth, things living, things dying, things continuing in the same way”. These are the lines which end “Because It Is Running By” written by Jo Lloyd in 2009. In few words the last part of the extract summits the situation of the main character Wil and what the author wishes to criticize. While times go by and things live and die, his social background ties him to the spot where he was born, and he is forced to be the onlooker as things continue in the same way time after time.
Because It Is Running By” is told by a 3rd person narrator with a limited omniscient point of view starting from the main character Wil. The action takes place during a summer beginning, in medias res, with Edie’s arrival and ending with her impending departure. The story is chronological but there are several flashbacks woven into the story. The scene is laid in a small, isolated, rural society in England where Wil and his mother live in great poverty.Through time their property has been decreased, and at the time when the story takes place their home is reduced to the kitchen area, and their further possessions comprise a caravan and a couple of fields. The meagre conditions Wil and his mother live with influence the atmosphere which is marked by indifference, triviality and bitterness.
Literary this atmosphere finds expression in the fact that the characters constantly are in possession of a cigarette although they lost their husband and father to throat cancer.The action moves around the relationship between Edie and Wil. Through their actions and dialogue the reader forms an idea of the character’s personality and their dreams and defeats. The meaningless atmosphere seems to have an influence on the couple as well. In their approaches to each other they go to great lengths not to seem interested in one another. ll.
77-79 on page 4 express this fact: “ Some mates of mine are playing a gig in town. Want to come? As if it didn’t matter what she said.Sure, she said. As if it didn’t matter. Despite this Edie has come to mean a great deal to Wil at the end of the summer, and the news of her departure upsets him.
However, the reason why her leaving troubles him might also be that it emphasizes the difference between them. She has the ability to drop out of college and go to Marrakech while he is trapped in the small society where his family has lived since his grandfather’s time and where he finds the same barmaid and the same people dancing about every time he goes out. Their different situations can be seen in the light of text 4 “ Making the decision to take a gap year” on page 10.In the text in says that the possibility of taking a gap year depends on where you are in life.
Whether you are a student without commitment or a person in work with mortgage and family. Edie is free to do whatever she want’s but Wil is committed to his mother and their property. Wil tries to cover the truth to her, and maybe to himself as well, by saying that he could have done college and his A-levels, but the fact of the matter is that he is held prisoner where he is and he is embarrassed of it.Nevertheless this extract on page 2 ll. 25-28 illustrates his desire to pick out indicated by his long look into the distance: “Sometimes, on her way out, she’d see Wil working in the field, planting, digging, stacking boxes of veg into the back of the old van. (…) Sometimes he’d be standing there, one foot on the fork, looking away into the distance, for minutes at a time.
” His captivity can be compared to the one depicted in the painting on page 11 called “Desired Freedom”.Like Wil, the portrayed man looks out of the window and watch the surrounding world, but something keeps him in his room, and the dove symbolizing freedom flies away. On the other hand there are indications in the text which suggest that Edie feels the other way round. On page 6 l. 171 she says: “ I think you are where you are” to Wil.
She can’t explain what it means but stresses that it is a good thing. On account of the information we get of her past and her wish to go to Morocco it seems as though she has trouble staying and commit herself to a place.Consequently Wil’s life might seem tempting. Against a background of the analysis the themes of “Because It Is Running By” are stagnation, commitment and dreams of another life. By writing this story Jo Lloyd illustrates and criticizes how the social differences creates different opportunities in life.
B: Jo Lloyd’s style of writing Jo Lloyd’s style of writing can be expressed as scenic. The characters don’t express their feelings directly to the reader, but their actions, reactions and comments form an impression of their character.The scenic representation creates a wealth of images in the mind of the reader and makes the story more real and relevant to the reader. In addition to this she also uses some figures of speech to create images in the readers mind. An example can be found on page 4 line 107: “She was warm like the stored heat of the sun”. Furthermore, Jo Lloyd uses a great amount of dialogue which emphasizes the scenic effect.
The dialogue also has another effect as the characters express themselves in very short and simple phrases supporting the described environment and atmosphere.
