What will we reminisce and regret when we age and become an elder? Will we be lonely and ill? Or will we be happy and appreciate the small things in life? The Short Story ”Waiting for the Telegram” by Alan Bennett is about Violet, an elderly resident in a nursing home, who due to a stroke has trouble remembering names and words. Throughout the story Violet talks about the present and reminisces about the past, and the short story is therefore elucidating how it is to age and the feelings that follow ageing. Violet does not recognize her son nor does she remember having a husband.
Violet does not even remember her own birthday as she is surprised when everyone waltzes in and congratulates her and she pretends to be pleased, but she is not as another year in her life means that she will soon be receiving a telegram from the Queen congratulating her with her centennial. Francis, a nurse, is Violet’s favourite. He calls her his girlfriend, and is taking very good care of her. But Francis comes down with pneumonia and dies which Devon, another nurse, thinks is due to his sexual orientation.
Violet not knowing Francis was homosexual pretends that she knew all along when Devon tells that it was not lasses but lads Francis was into. Francis’ sexual orientation does not seem to bother Violet, as she thinks he was a love anyway. Despite Violet having problems remembering words and memories she can still remember the last time she saw her beloved, which she tells Francis about before he dies. She tells about a disastrous evening prior to her beloved’s departure to France.
Her sense of propriety overrode her own deep desires and inhibited her from letting her beloved seduce her, which she has never forgiven herself for especially because she later heard that he was killed in the war. Francis observed that throughout the conversation Violet had been completely clear and never once stumbled over the words. In the end of the short story Violet wishes to have a pet and she compares the nurse home with a kennels. The short story elucidates Violet’s aging life in the nurse home and it describes how she becomes more and more lonely. And from one ageing life to another.
Two ageing lives to be exact. The two pictures “American Gothic” (1930) by Grant Wood and “American Gothic” (2002) by Dynamic Duo Studio both delineates an older man, probably a farmer, firmly holding a pitchfork and a middle aged woman looking away. A house and a barn is seen in the background on Grant Wood’s painting, while futuristic building-looking objects marks the background of Dynamic Duo Studio’s interpretation of the original. The shapes, colours and lines are very realistic in Grant Wood’s painting. The colours of the painting are light but cold and they are almost fainted in their faces.
There are many vertical and parallel lines represented in the pitchfork and the facade of the house and barn. Whereas the shapes and colours on the Dynamic Duo Studio work are by far more unrealistic and far less detailed. The background is unfocused and the used colours are more concentrated and strong. The details painted on the Grant Wood painting seems simplified or not present at all on the Dynamic Duo Studio work. The parallel and symmetrical lines of both works of art create a static atmosphere. As mentioned the two works of art delineates a man and a woman.
The man has an immovable demeanour and there seems to be a protective and proud stance about him while the woman’s expression looks more worried and troubled - maybe even of fear and ashamed, as she looks away from the viewer. His face has a look of determination and concealed anger, while her face has a look of hopeless worry. Their expressions and feelings recur on Dynamic Duo Studio’s work although futuristic robot-looking elements have taken many of the expressed feelings and details away. Given these assumptions the theme and mood of the two works of art could be depression and to be depressed.
In conclusion to the aforementioned interpretations regarding the theme and the man and the woman’s mood the Grant Wood painting could mean that they are facing or having a bad and depressing period in their life together. They may have experienced unprofitable harvest and the subsequently bad economic consequences, which can lead to eviction. Although they are maybe facing the possibility of eviction it is evident when looking at the man that he has no intentions of leaving his farm and his pitchfork could symbolize his refusal to be evicted.
The woman looks not as confident as she is not looking at the viewer, but rather off in the distance maybe hoping for a positive change to come, but the man’s sense of determination and refusal to leave dominates. Looking at the two works of art as one unity the Grant Wood painting could represent the present in which they refuse to be evicted, and Dynamic Duo Studio’s work of art could represent the future in which they still refuse to be evicted as they are still standing in the same posture.
