and
In this story, the repetitive use of the conjunctive word “and” is most outstanding. Most of the sentences are connected by “and” instead of other conjunctions. The excessive use of “and” sometimes aims at suggesting invariability, as when it is used in the Bible. Joyce seems to stress the implication of the monotony of people’s life. We get the impression that the protagonist’s life is composed of a series of “and then”, without changes.
Then she remembered what she had been waiting for
Marriage is full of deceit and cheating. In the story, everyone wants to be loved by others but nobody can receive true love. Their distorted personalities, the snobbish society and the lust for money and power make them can’t get true love from others.
priest
Religion is all around in this book.
She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her. He would give her life, perhaps love, too. But she wanted to live. Why should she be unhappy? She had a right to happiness. Frank would take her in his arms, fold her in his arms. He would save her.
Her aspiration for escaping fromher domestic responsibilities displays her farewell to her domestic roles or her recognition of a promising future to become a free individuality.
she was again in the close dark room at the other side of the hall and outside she heard a melancholy air of Italy.
Eveline's flashback is typically symptomatic of individuals in the face of a vital choice. Thus, Joyce shows how much inner conflicts factor into the decision-making process.
do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad
That is the reason why the boy comes to the quay. In this sense, Joyce has also delineated the consciousness of escaping from the “prison” of Irish life.
quay
Images acquire special significance through reierated practices in this work. When the schoolboys want to eacape from the boring routines, they come to the quay.
He was too scrupulous always,
Under the pressure of religious affairs, the priest behaved abnormally, his health was also compromised, meanwhile, he did not gained respect and recognition from the prople around him.
His face was very truculent, grey and massive, with black cavernous nostrils and circled by a scanty white fur.
His mortal remains was more suffocating and creepy. Religious torture on him clearly apparent on his fae, so that the whole image of him were filled with horror and despair of color like a living dead.
paralysis
In children's ignorant minds, the word seems like a new thing full of the sense of strangeness and fear.
He was tired and, although the late sun was still shining, curiously cold, with a numbed feeling all over.
Although it is warm spring full of vigour and vitality, he appears weak and whacked throughout the whole story.
On either side of the carriage porch their hydrangeas—famous in the town—were coming into flower; the pinkish, bluish masses of flower lay like light among the spreading leaves
There are two basic meanings of this sentence ---the hydrangeas are famous in the town. On one hand, it means that the gardener in Mr. Neave’ family is skillful at planting flowers and is the best one in their town. On the other hand, it mans Mr. Neave’s family has spend lots of time and money on gardening. It is a symbol that Mr. Neave is rich enough to show off the wealth to other people who lives in the same avenue.
radiantly
The whole storyline can be summarized as a psychological process of an eighteen girl from full of hope to frustrations to regaining confidence. The author criticizes adults' blows against the girl, and appreciates the courage and strength of the child in the face of the blow.
azaleas
Katherine Mansfield was an expert at narration with the help of flowers.The azaleas were described at the beginning, middle, and end of the ball. The "azaleas" that appeared three times in the article show different status throughout the ball, and are summarized as follows: “heavenly”—"separate"—"dazzling".
gave a loud sniff
In this case, Kate, the maid, asks the two mistresses which way they prefer the fish to be made."The bold voice"and"a loud sniff"show the rude attitude Kate treats her mistresses.Also the extremely simple words Kate uses"Fried or boiled"and"Fish"illustrate her impatience to those whose status is higher than her.However, the two daughters'reactions are also out of expectation.Responding to Kate's impoliteness, Josephine reproaches not heavy but just"gently".And the reproach is just a display of courage.Though from the higher class than Kate, the two daughters do not even have the ability to cope with their maid.
He lay there, purple, a dark, angry purple in the face, and never even looked at them when they came in. Then, as they were standing there, wondering what to do, he had suddenly opened one eye.
At the last of his life, the colonel does not show his worry or care for their daughters'future.To the unmarried daughters, his death means they will lose their father's dependence.Since the two daughters are incapable of dealing with their everyday things, the rest of their life will be tough.But the father does not care about this.The last sight he leaves to his daughters is the suddenly opened one eye.This sight may show his love for his life-long occupation—a colonel, but no love for his family members—the two daughters.
amazed
"astonishment""more amazed""Don't be so extravagant" are words said bt Jose which reflects her lack of sympathy. For her, the death of a young man from lower society will never be a reason for stopping their party. There is an eternal indifference existing in different societies.
hen
I think it would be interesting to find all the "animal" words in this book and see how the author uses them. I think most of them are used to describe characters' personalities.
I have never seen such exquisite sandwiches
Jose seems to be a delightful girl who is good at comforting others. And Mrs. Sheridan really knows which one of her daughters could take this responsibility of pacifying the terrifying people.
dreadfully unsympathetic smile.
Instead of matching its elegiac tone, Jose sings the song about heartbreak, death, and needless suffering with a wide smile and asks for her mother’s approval. We could find a little bit of unsympathy in her personality.
butterfly
“butterfly” seems like a very interesting word. It usually refers to someone who is very social and easygoing. I think Jose might be a very popular and confident girl. Just gussing.
He fell back a few steps, and looked at me with an expression of compassionate curiosity, tempered by superstitious awe
It's really unusual that Betteredge should be as obsessed with the book as he is, especially as an adult.I do know some people who are obsessed with a book but usually it's applied to a holy text like the Bible
dead
It got me confusing too. for only one year, nearly 5 people have died. Manbe the yellow diamond is really ominous.
If an order comes to me, which is own brother to an order come from Bedlam
Betterege is truly a funny and memorable guy. He is also an obedient servant. Even he holds a negative attitude to this experiment. He still follows all the orders from Jennings, even though his orders are similar with those from Bedlam. That's hilarious.
reconciliation
The detective story gradually becomes a typical love story as the truth is revealing. The misunderstandings between Mr. Franklin and Miss Racheal are gone and they recognize each other's affection, which undoubtedly add some sense of romance and warmth to the story.
GODFREY ABLEWHITE!
This is the most surprising part of the full text as far as I have read. Who can think of this sailor as Godfrey? who would know he is the real thief. And Sergeant Cuff is so brilliant. The envelop really raise the sense of mystery to a new level.
At eleven o’clock
This part is arranged in chronological order. Mr.Jennings is a very logical person. On the one hand, it may be because of his rigor as a researcher. On the one hand, he is the recorder of this experiment, and a experimental report is generally recorded in time sequence.
the eminent physician had smiled, had shaken his head, and had said–nothing
The eminent physician's reflection makes the experiment more mysterious. I'm really curious about the outcome of this experiment. Will it be a failure?
merciful Death
I don't know why Jennings mentioned death here.It seems to come from nowhere. Is this an exaggerated expression? Or is it the foreshadowing from the author?
attraction
This paragraph is really like a confession of love. I am very curious about Jennings' past experience. What kind of unfriendlyness and prejudice he has experienced will make him express such gratitude to Mr. Franklin's kind manner and trust.
brandy
It's always interesing to see brandy in the Victorian novels, espcially when Mr.Franklin has his breakfast on brandy. Brandy seems to appear in any scene or at any time in Victorian novels, perhaps brandy is their panacea for all troubles.
impenetrable
Miss Verinder seems really not want to see Franklin. She must say something that strongly expressed that she did not want to see this person. So the servant looks impenetrable.
suffered
I think Franklin Blake seems to be really sincere to Rachel from his words and behaviours. Even he is also expressing his feelings in a direct way. I feel no hypocrity of him comparing to the untruthful Godfred.
the conversation turned on politics as a necessary result
This sentence is very interesting. Is it true that all British men like to discuss politics? I think that Mr.Bruff's ironic remarks about others is always very impressive.
Oriental origin
Unlike the Britis's common prejudice against the Indians, Mr.Bruff has an unusual affection for the Indian. He believes that the Indian is of a high social status and absolute politeness. The author even showed a good impression and respect for the Orientals, which I find very rare.
scoundrel
I think "scoundrel" is kind of a very serious derogatory word. I don't know why Mr.Bruff has such a bad impression on Godfrey. Is that because of the so-called lawyer's intuition, or because Godfrey's reputation is actually very bad (Well, this seems less possible ).
most wisely
Lady Verinder is really a smart woman. In that era, it was obviously difficult for a widowed woman to soundly possess so much wealth, and she had to think ahead about herself and her daughter's future. Therefore, she made her will in less than fourteen days after her husband's death, and THE WILL was called "most wisely" according to the lawyer, which revealed how wise and visionary of the lady.
obstacle
Duff has warned miss Verinder that her leaving may make it even more difficult in finding her lost diomand. However, the young woman seemed to act indifferently, which put her onto a very suspicious position. But I still hold the opinion that she was only sheltering the real thief, because an excellent detective novel will never reveal the prisoner's attitude so obviously.
what the devil
"What the devil"is really a new expression for me. I never see this collocation before and find it strange, or simply because I read so limited English novels. I guess "devil" here has the similar meanings with ”what the hell“. But "devil" is the concrete embodiment of evil in Christianity, adding more mysterious religious elements to this detective story.
It’s always a pleasure to me to be tender towards human infirmity
Apparently sergeant Cuff has superb conversation skills. He knows that Gabriel has compassion for Rosanna and is unwilling to believe that she is the thief. So he used a clever way of talking and first said that he had a sincere understanding of the weakness of human nature. Then he shift this understanding of human weakness to gabriel's attitude toward Rosanna, persuading him that he just not be willing to believe that the person he trusts is the one who steals the Rachel's diamond, instead of really thinking that Rosanna is not suspected of stealing the diamond....
We had our breakfasts–whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder, it doesn’t matter, you must have your breakfast.
Well, that's the spirit! Sounds what my mom would say to me - "never skip your breakfast". I noticed that people in Victorian era were obsessed with manners. Even though the whole house was in chaos because the precious diamond was stolen after Rachel's birthday party, and everyone was suspicious, they still sticked to their daily routine and had breakfast together, like the old servant had said,"whatever happens in a house, robbery or murder, it doesn’t matter, you must have your breakfast. "
We have got three things left, sir–Love, Music, and Salad”?
Love, Music and Salad are three essential elements in our life. Love comes first, not because we usually fall in love for the first sight, but because love is the one thing that really matters in our ordinary life. Music is a language that demands no learning, or we could say, everyone could understand the emotions come from a song even we don't quite know its language. Music, or I would like to extend to all forms of art, is a natural expression of love. Putting salad at the end of these three is even a better idea, because love and music would eventually lead to salad, or food, I think. All the romantic relationships will naturally end up trapped in the narrow and small spaces like kitchen, dining room and bedroom. However，love and music beautify the word “salad”. They makes every meal you prepare for your significant other more meaningful.
people
The author compares the servants with the members of the British Parliament in a satirical tone. Of course, we notice from these sentences about the dull and ignorant characteristics of the British Parliament. But it will even better if we can quickly reflect the actual situation of the British Parliament at the time.I don't know if the current computer technology can help quickly come to the historical background and geographical characteristics of settings of the novel after searching the full text. So when we are reading this paragraph, we can quickly get to know the status of the British Parliament and the country at that time.