DOCSLIB.ORG

The Portrait of English Society in Selected Novels

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Portrait of English Society in Selected Novels MASARYKUNIVERSITYBRNO FacultyofEducation EnglishDepartment THE PORTRAIT OF ENGLISH SOCIETY IN SELECTED NOVELS OF AGATHA CHRISTIE Bachelor thesis Author:EvaBlažková Supervisor: Mgr.Lucie Podroužková,Ph.D. Brno2006 Declaration Ideclare thatIhave compiledthisfinalthesis bymyselfandthatIhaveusedonlythe sources listedinthe bibliography. ………………….. ListofContents 1. Introduction................................................................................................. 1 2. Whodunit..................................................................................................... 3 3. WomenandWomen’sIssues...................................................................... 4 4. FamilyLife................................................................................................ 11 5. Servants..................................................................................................... 18 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 30 7. Resume...................................................................................................... 32 8. Bibliography.............................................................................................. 33 9. Appendix................................................................................................... 34 1. Introduction The detective stories byAgatha Christie are my biglove.I have readalmost all her novels and short stories, I evendreamed about becoming a great detective. I just could not decide, whether I would be more like Miss Marple or Mr. Poirot, her two most popular detectives. What makes me like them somuch? The character of the great detective, who comes and solves everything at the end of the book by intellectual thinking, exposes the evil and represents the order, is a phenomenon which brings securityinto our lives andleaves us withthe hope for justice. Althoughthe mainmotive of crime novelsis money,the backgroundof these stories ismuchmore diverse. It is the societyitself,its relationships anddelicate invisible web of consensus andrules which must beobeyedaswell asthecharacter andtemperamentof the people,whichformsthe complete pictureofacrimestory. As the title of my thesis indicates, I would like to focus and more deeply comment on some interestingfeatures of the Englishsocietyas reflectedinthe works of Agatha Christie. My work is based on the information gathered from her novels CrookedHouse (1949) , ThereisaTide (1948) ,Hercule Poirot´sChristmas (1939) , Five Little Pigs (1942) , The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) and The Moving Finger (1942) . Agatha Christie is the best sellingauthor of anygenre andof all time.Her books have sold over twobillioncopies inthe Englishlanguage andanother billioninover 103foreignlanguages. She is famouslyknownas the “Queenof Crime” andis the most important andinnovative writer inthe development of the Englishdetective fiction.She published over eightynovels and stage plays,manyof these featuringone of her main series characters –Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple.Most of her books andshort stories have beenfilmed,her playThe Mousetrap holds the record for the longest runever in Londonandit is still runningin2006 after more than20,000performances.In1971she was granted the title of Dame Commander of the British Empire.I consider her one of themostsuccessfulwomenintheworld. Her private life was not that happy. Her father diedwhenshe was only a child, her first marriage was an unhappyone andwas divorced in1928.However,theyhada daughter Rosalind, named after one of Shakespeare’s heroines. During World War I Agatha Christie worked in a hospital and then a pharmacy. This job influenced her 1 detective stories,as manyof the murders inher books are committedwiththe help of poison. Her life carries one big mystery – her disappearance for eleven days in 1926. Her car was foundabandonedandin the endshe was discoveredin a hotel inHarrogate, she herself later claimed to have suffered amnesia due to a nervous breakdown followingthe deathof her mother andher husband’s infidelity.A fictionalisedversion of the disappearance was recreatedina film Agatha (1971) , starring Vanessa Redgrave as Christie andDustinHoffmanas a journalist whofinds her.In1930she remarriedto Sir Max Mallowan, a British archaeologist, who was fourteen years younger. This marriage was very happy, althougheven nowadays the relationship between an older womananda younger manis seenas somethingverysuspicious andunconventional.I see in this her big courage as well as independent spirit. They visited together the Middle East andseveral of her novels tookplace there.She diedin1976at the age of eighty-fiveandis buriedatSt.Mary’sChurchyardinCholsey,Oxon. The aim of this thesis is toexamine social aspects of Britishsocietybetweenthe twoworldwars as describedinher novels,especiallythe role andnature of the family, the role of womenandportrait of social classes andtocompare the social background depicted in Agatha Christie’s novels with the available historical facts. I divided my work into four chapters, which concentrate on the typical features of English society betweenthe WorldWar I and WorldWar II.In the first chapter “Whodunit” I want to introduce the classical detective storyof “GoldenAge” of detective fiction,the typical setting–the Englishcountryside andsocietywhichis describedit the novels,mainly upper class andupper middle class andalso the twomaindetective characters –Miss Marple and Mr. Poirot. Agatha Christie knew these classes and she depicted very precisely the mainfeatures of them –strongsense of possessiveness,deep prejudices andhypocrisy.Inthe chapter “Womenandthe Women’s Issues” I wouldlike to discuss the role of a womaninthe societyandthe changingattitude towards womeninthe first half of the twentiethcentury.This chapter will alsointroduce some womencharacters depictedin Christie’s novels.The thirdchapter “FamilyLife” will deal withthe picture of a familyinAgatha Christie’s books.The familyis considereda foundationstone of the society,andthe change from the Victorianmodel of the familytoa modernone as we know it nowadays is very interesting. Next chapter, “Servants”, will show the working class – teachers, maids and governesses, their role in Christie’s novel and changesinthesocietyconnectedwiththem. 2 2. Whodunit The question“whohas done it” is a basic concept of the detective novel from so calledGoldenAge Mysterynovel,where the puzzle itself is the most important thing andwhere the reader gets many clues from whichthe murderer canbe identifiedbefore the solution is revealed in the final pages of the book. The character of the great detective and the mystery which he is solving is the central motive of the detective story, the rest around is reduced to a minimum. (Hilský 1992: 165) The return of a natural andlawful order of the countryside life is the endof the narrative. Inthe Golden Age of detective novel the writers followed some clichés, which later became unacceptable andridiculed,for instance verypopular was a lockedroom mystery.It is a particular kind of whodunit, where the crime is committed under impossible circumstances a where the victim was foundina room whichwas at the time of crime impossibletoenter andleavewithout beingseenbytheothers. The writes also followed distinct rules, where some topics like increasing unemployment,the General Strike of 1926,the Great Depressionof the 1930s,the rise of Europeandictatorships or sexual relationships betweenthe characters of the storyare totallyexcluded(Hilský 1992: 165). Accordingly,the famous rules published in 1929 byRonaldKnox,knownas TenCommandments ,Christie followedonlypartly.Insome stories she did not comply with them at all, like in her famous novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ,where the narrator of the storyis revealedtobe the murderer itself.The ruleswerefollowing: 1.Thecriminalmust bementionedintheearlypartofthestory,butmustnot beanyone whosethoughtsthe readerhas beenallowedtofollow. 2.Allsupernaturalor preternaturalagencies are ruledoutasa matterofcourse. 3.Not morethanonesecretroomor passageisallowable. 4.Nohithertoundiscoveredpoisons maybeused,noranyappliancewhichwillneeda longscientificexplanationatthe end. 5.NoChinamanmustfigureinthestory. 6.Noaccidentmusteverhelpthedetective,nor mustheeverhaveanunaccountable intuitionwhichproves toberight. 7.Thedetectivehimself mustnotcommitthecrime. 8.Thedetective is boundtodeclare anycluesuponwhichhe mayhappentolight. 3 9.Thestupidfriendofthedetective,theWatson,mustnotconcealfromthereaderany thoughtswhichpass throughhismind;hisintelligencemust beslightly,butvery slightly,belowthatoftheaveragereader. 10.Twinbrothersanddoublesgenerally,mustnotappearunlesswehave beenduly preparedforthem. According to Knox, a detective story "must have as its main interest the unravelingof a mystery; a mysterywhose elements are clearlypresentedtothe reader at an early stage in the proceedings, and whose nature is such as to arouse curiosity, a curiositywhichisgratifiedattheend.” In this chapter I would like to deal with some specific attributes of Christie’s books: typical setting,her famous detectives andthe typical societywhichshe writes aboutinher novels. The Britishcountryside is a term whichbrings in the mindplaces awayfrom the influence of large cities andtowns,a typical village witha church,full of local people interestedin gossips,a typical Englishgentlemanintweed,large greenfields,lakes and woods. Surely our concept of living in the country is also influenced by reading the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Christie 62 2.Pdf
    p q Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case 3 p q 3 ■ B L Contents A N About Agatha Christie The AgathaK Christie Collection E-Book ExtrasP A Chapters: 1G, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17E, 18, 19 Postscript 6 ■ Copyright www.agathachristie.com About the Publisher Chapter 1 I Who is there who has not felt a sudden startled pang at reliving an old experience, or feeling an old emotion? ‘I have done this before . .’ Why do those words always move one so pro- foundly? That was the question I asked myself as I sat in the train watching the flat Essex landscape outside. How long ago was it that I had taken this selfsame journey? Had felt (ridiculously) that the best of life was over for me! Wounded in that war that for me would always be the war – the war that was wiped out now by a second and a more desperate war. It had seemed in 1916 to young Arthur Hastings that he was already old and mature. How little had I realized that, for me, life was only then beginning. I had been journeying, though I did not know it, to meet the man whose influence over me was to shape 5 p q and mould my life. Actually, I had been going to stay with my old friend, John Cavendish, whose mother, recently remarried, had a country house named Styles. A pleasant renewing of old acquaintanceships, that was all I had thought it, not foreseeing that I was shortly to plunge into all the dark embroilments of a mysterious murder.
    [Show full text]
  • Agatha Christie - Third Girl
    Agatha Christie - Third Girl CHAPTER ONE HERCULE POIROT was sitting at the breakfast table. At his right hand was a steaming cup of chocolate. He had always had a sweet tooth. To accompany the chocolate was a brioche. It went agreeably with chocolate. He nodded his approval. This was from the fourth shop he had tried. It was a Danish patisserie but infinitely superior to the so-called French one near by. That had been nothing less than a fraud. He was satisfied gastronomically. His stomach was at peace. His mind also was at peace, perhaps somewhat too much so. He had finished his Magnum Opus, an analysis of great writers of detective fiction. He had dared to speak scathingly of Edgar Alien Poe, he had complained of the lack of method or order in the romantic outpourings of Wilkie Collins, had lauded to the skies two American authors who were practically unknown, and had in various other ways given honour where honour was due and sternly withheld it where he considered it was not. He had seen the volume through the press, had looked upon the results and, apart from a really incredible number of printer's errors, pronounced that it was good. He had enjoyed this literary achievement and enjoyed the vast amount of reading he had had to do, had enjoyed snorting with disgust as he flung a book across the floor (though always remembering to rise, pick it up and dispose of it tidily in the waste-paper basket) and had enjoyed appreciatively nodding his head on the rare occasions when such approval was justified.
    [Show full text]
  • THE MOVING FINGER Agatha Christie
    THE MOVING FINGER Agatha Christie Chapter 1 I have often recalled the morning when the first of the anonymous letters came. It arrived at breakfast and I turned it over in the idle way one does when time goes slowly and every event must be spun out to its full extent. It was, I saw, a local letter with a typewritten address. I opened it before the two with London postmarks, since one of them was clearly a bill, and on the other I recognised the handwriting of one of my more tiresome cousins. It seems odd, now, to remember that Joanna and I were more amused by the letter than anything else. We hadn't, then, the faintest inkling of what was to come - the trail of blood and violence and suspicion and fear. One simply didn't associate that sort of thing with Lymstock. I see that I have begun badly. I haven't explained Lymstock. When I took a bad crash flying, I was afraid for a long time, in spite of soothing words from doctors and nurses, that I was going to be condemned to lie on my back all my life. Then at last they took me out of the plaster and I learned cautiously to use my limbs, and finally Marcus Kent, my doctor, clapped me on my back and told me that everything was going to be all right, but that I'd got to go and live in the country and lead the life of a vegetable for at least six months.
    [Show full text]
  • The Miss Marple Reading List Uk
    THE MISS MARPLE READING LIST UK Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective, but appearances are deceiving... A shrewd woman with a sparkle in her eye, she isn’t above speculation about her neighbours in the small village of St Mary Mead. A keen advocate for justice, armed often only with her knitting needles and a pair of gardening gloves, this sleuth knows plenty about human nature. TOP FIVE MISS MARPLE NOVELS THE NOTES THE LIST Although published in 1976, Sleeping Murder was written during If you want to read the stories chronologically (in terms of World War II and portrays a sprightlier Miss Marple than Nemesis. The Miss Marple’s lifetime), we recommend the following order: title Miss Marple’s Final Cases is a misnomer, because most of the short stories are actually set (and were written) in the 1940’s. ‘Greenshaw’s Folly’ is published in The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding. The Murder at the Vicarage [1930] The Thirteen Problems (short stories) [1932] Miss Marple’s Final Cases (short stories) [1979] The Body in the Library [1942] “ I’m very ordinary. An ordinary rather The Moving Finger [1942] scatty old lady. And that of course is Sleeping Murder [1976] very good camouflage.” A Murder is Announced [1950] Nemesis, Agatha Christie They Do it with Mirrors [1952] A Pocket Full of Rye [1953] ‘Greenshaw’s Folly’ [1956] THE CHALLENGE 4.50 from Paddington [1957] The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side [1962] A Caribbean Mystery [1964] Keep track of your Miss Marple reading. How many stories have you read? At Bertram’s Hotel [1965] Nemesis [1971] For more reading ideas visit www.agathachristie.com THE MISS MARPLE READING LIST US Miss Jane Marple doesn’t look like your average detective, but appearances are deceiving..
    [Show full text]
  • Agatha Christie
    Agatha Christie Investigating Femininity Merja Makinen Crime Files Series General Editor: Clive Bloom Since its invention in the nineteenth century, detective fiction has never been more popular. In novels, short stories, films, radio, television and now in computer games, private detectives and psychopaths, prim poisoners and over- worked cops, tommy gun gangsters and cocaine criminals are the very stuff of modern imagination, and their creators one mainstay of popular consciousness. Crime Files is a ground-breaking series offering scholars, students and discerning readers a comprehensive set of guides to the world of crime and detective fiction. Every aspect of crime writing, detective fiction, gangster movie, true-crime exposé, police procedural and post-colonial investigation is explored through clear and informative texts offering comprehensive coverage and theoretical sophistication. Published titles include: Hans Bertens and Theo D’haen CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CRIME FICTION Anita Biressi CRIME, FEAR AND THE LAW IN TRUE CRIME STORIES Ed Christian (editor) THE POST-COLONIAL DETECTIVE Paul Cobley THE AMERICAN THRILLER Generic Innovation and Social Change in the 1970s Lee Horsley THE NOIR THRILLER Merja Makinen AGATHA CHRISTIE Investigating Femininity Fran Mason AMERICAN GANGSTER CINEMA From Little Caesar to Pulp Fiction Linden Peach MASQUERADE, CRIME AND FICTION Susan Rowland FROM AGATHA CHRISTIE TO RUTH RENDELL British Women Writers in Detective and Crime Fiction Adrian Schober POSSESSED CHILD NARRATIVES IN LITERATURE AND FILM Contrary States Heather Worthington THE RISE OF THE DETECTIVE IN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY POPULAR FICTION Crime Files Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-71471-3 (Hardback) ISBN 978-0-333-93064-9 (Paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography
    BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY SOURCES BY AGATHA CHRISTIE Christie, Agatha. An Autobiography [1977] (London: Harper, 2011). ———. The Big Four (London: Collins, 1927). ———. The Body in the Library [1942] (New York, London, Toronto: Harper, 2011). ———. “The Capture of Cerberus” [1941], in Agatha Christie ’ s Secret Notebooks : Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making , ed. by John Curran (London: HarperCollins, 2009), 425-52. ———. “The Capture of Cerberus” [1947], in Herucle Poirot : The Complete Short Stories (London: HarperCollins, 1999), 831-51. ———. Cards on the Table [1936] (Glasgow: Fontana, 1969). ———. Cards on the Table : Marple Tie-In (London: HarperCollins, 2005). ———. A Caribbean Mystery (London: Book Club, 1964). ———. “The Case of the Discontented Soldier” [1934], in Parker Pyne Investigates (New York: William Morrow, 2012), 17-38. ———. “The Case of the Rich Woman” [1934], in Parker Pyne Investigates (New York: William Morrow, 2012), 87-104. ———. “The Cornish Mystery” [1923], in Poirot ’ s Early Cases (London: Harper, 2002), 57-80. ———. Crooked House [1949] (Glasgow: Fontana, 1990). ———. Curtain : Poirot ’ s Last Case [1975] (London: Harper, 2002). ———. Dead Man ’ s Folly [1956] (London: Collins, 1956). ———. Death on the Nile [1937] (New York, London, Toronto: Harper, 2011). © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 271 J.C. Bernthal, Queering Agatha Christie, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-33533-9 272 BIBLIOGRAPHY ———. “The Double Clue” [1923], in Hercule Poirot : The Complete Short Stories (London: HarperCollins, 1999), 282-90. ———. Dumb Witness (London: Book Club, 1937). ———. Elephants Can Remember [1972] (London: HarperCollins, 2002). ———. Evil under the Sun [1941] (Glasgow, London: Fontana, 1988). ———. The Grand Tour (London: HarperCollins, 2012). ———. Hallowe ’ en Party [1969] (London: HarperCollins, 1994).
    [Show full text]
  • Hercule Poirot's Casebook
    HERCULE POIROT'S CASEBOOK Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her seventy-six detective novels and books of stories have been translated into every major language, and her sales are calculated in tens of millions. She began writing at the end of the First World War, when she created Hercule Poirot, the little Belgian detective with the egg-shaped head and the passion for order - the most popular sleuth in fiction since Sherlock Holmes. Poirot, Miss Marple and her other detectives have appeared in films, radio programmes, television films and stage plays based on her books. Agatha Christie also wrote six romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, several plays and a book of poems; as well, she assisted her archaeologist.husband Sir Max Mallowan on many expeditions to the Middle East. She was awarded the DBE in 1971. Postern of Fate was the last book she wrote before her death in 1976, but since its publication two books Agatha Christie wrote in the 1940s have appeared: Curtain: Poirot's Last Case and Sleeping Murder, the last Miss Marple book. Agatha Christie's Autobiography was published by Fontana in 1978. Available in Fontana by the same author The ABC Murders At Bertram's Hotel The Body in the Library By the Pricking of My Thumbs The Clocks Dead Man's Folly Death Comes as the End Destination Unknown Elephants Can Remember Endless Night Evil Under the Sun Hallowe'en Party Hickory Dickory Dock The Hollow The Labours of Hercules Lord Edgware Dies The Moving Finger The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Murder
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography
    Bibliography Works by Agatha Christie The following works are referred to in the text. They are listed under the standard British titles, with American titles in brackets. Date of the first publication is given. Works are referred to in the text by an abbreviated form of the British title, given in square brackets in this list. Since there have been so many editions of the novels, references are to the chapter numbers and not to the page. The current standard edition is published by Harper-Collins in the United Kingdom and by Dodd Mead in the United States. 4.50 from Paddington (What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw), 1957 [4.50] The ABC Murders, 1936 [ABC] The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, 1960 [Pudding] After the Funeral (Funerals Are Fatal), 1953 [Funeral] And Then There Were None, 1939 [None] Appointment with Death, 1938 [Appointment] At Bertram’s Hotel, 1965 [Bertram] Autobiography, 1977 The Body in the Library, 1942 [Library] By the Pricking of My Thumbs, 1968 [Pricking] Cards on the Table, 1936 [Cards] A Caribbean Mystery, 1964 [Caribbean] Cat among the Pigeons, 1959 [Cat] The Clocks, 1963 [Clocks] Crooked House, 1949 [Crooked] Curtain, 1975 [Curtain] Dead Man’s Folly, 1956 [Folly] Death Comes As the End, 1945 [Comes End] Death in the Clouds (Death in the Air), 1935 [Clouds] Death on the Nile, 1937 [Nile] Destination Unknown (So Many Steps to Death), 1954 [Destination] Dumb Witness (Poirot Loses a Client), 1937 [Witness] Elephants Can Remember, 1972 [Elephants] Endless Night, 1967 [Endless] Evil under the Sun, 1941 [Sun] Five Little Pigs
    [Show full text]
  • Agatha Christie Third Girl
    Agatha Christie Third Girl A Hercule Poirot Mystery To Norah Blackmore Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five About the Author Other Books by Agatha Christie Credits Copyright About the Publisher One Hercule Poirot was sitting at the breakfast table. At his right hand was a steaming cup of chocolate. He had always had a sweet tooth. To accompany the chocolate was a brioche. It went agreeably with chocolate. He nodded his approval. This was from the fourth shop he had tried. It was a Danish pâtisserie but infinitely superior to the so-called French one nearby. That had been nothing less than a fraud. He was satisfied gastronomically. His stomach was at peace. His mind also was at peace, perhaps somewhat too much so. He had finished his Magnum Opus, an analysis of great writers of detective fiction. He had dared to speak scathingly of Edgar Allen Poe, he had complained of the lack of method or order in the romantic outpourings of Wilkie Collins, had lauded to the skies two American authors who were practically unknown, and had in various other ways given honour where honour was due and sternly withheld it where he considered it was not. He had seen the volume through the press, had looked upon the results and, apart from a really incredible number of printer’s errors, pronounced that it was good.
    [Show full text]
  • Murder Is Easy
    That was the beginning of the whole thing. I suddenly saw my way clear. And I determined to commit not one murder, but murder on a grand scale. Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None 9781472911308_txt_print.indb 5 6/5/2015 3:27:52 PM Content s Dame Agatha’s Deadly Dispensary 9 A is for Arsenic – Murder is Easy 19 B is for Belladonna – The Labours of Hercules 49 C is for Cyanide – Sparkling Cyanide 71 D is for Digitalis – Appointment with Death 89 E is for Eserine – Crooked House 109 H is for Hemlock – Five Little Pigs 127 M is for Monkshood – 4.50 from Paddington 141 N is for Nicotine – Three Act Tragedy 157 O is for Opium – Sad Cypress 175 P is for Phosphorus – Dumb Witness 203 R is for Ricin – Partners in Crime 223 S is for Strychnine – The Mysterious Aff air at Styles 237 T is for Thallium – The Pale Horse 255 V is f or Veronal – Lord Edgware Dies 275 Appendix 1 – Christie’s Causes of Death 291 Appendix 2 – Structures of some of the chemicals in this book 308 Selected Bibliography 312 Acknowledgements 314 Index 315 9781472911308_txt_print.indb 7 6/5/2015 3:27:52 PM 9781472911308_txt_print.indb 8 6/5/2015 3:27:52 PM Dame Agatha’ s Deadly Dispensary She hath pursued conclusions infi nite Of easy ways to die. William Shakespeare , Anthony and Cleopatra ame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie (1890 – 1976), the D ‘ Queen of Crime ’ , holds the Guinness World Record as most successful novelist of all time. She has been outsold only by the Bible and by Shakespeare (and is more widely translated than the Bard); Christie is also the author of the world’ s longest-running play, The Mousetrap , and created not one but two of the best-known fi ctional detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
    [Show full text]
  • Does Crime Literature Contribute to the Stigmatisation of Those with Mental Health Problems? 95
    Antoniou Crime literature and stigmatisation of mental illness 2. It is important to remember that not all Sikhs wear Nothing defeats cross-cultural ignorance, anxieties the kirpan and the issue will arise in only a small and prejudices better than simple, straightforward and number of Sikh patients. accurate information. Sometimes an excessive and inap- special 3. If a patient is wearing the kirpan, the staff should propriate concern about cultural sensitivity masks a articles not automatically assume that it is dangerous. patronisingly dismissive attitude to the cultural needs of However, it may be necessary to examine the minority groups. Alternatively, genuine cultural sensitivity kirpan to ensure safety. and concern about transgressing cultural boundaries may 4. If there are concerns about safety, these should be lead to important issues being ignored. For staff looking discussed openly but sensitively with the patient after patients from ethnic minority groups, this can be a and carers, explaining that the concerns are about delicate balancing act. It is hoped that at least in the area safety and in no way challenging or judgmental of of Sikh patients wearing a kirpan and safety concerns, the the religious traditions of Sikhs. above recommendations will help staff to look after 5. Patients and carers should be allowed to express patients in a clinically and culturally appropriate manner. their views including ventilation of any distress, since for devout Sikhs, the five Ks are the paramount and highly emotive articles of faith. Acknowledgement Brusque, confrontational or insensitive handling of the discussion is only likely to appear insulting, and I am grateful to Mr Indarjit Singh OBE for checking the may polarise and entrench opinions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Moving Finger
    English Readers The Moving Finger Part 1 (Chapters 1–4) 4 Vocabulary Find ten words connected to village life. 1 Comprehension StudentAre these sentences Activities true or false? Rewrite any that you think A B I S O L A T E D P Q H are false. G C A F S H K U W D W L E O B S G C F L V M J F L M 1 Jerry and Joanna are not brother and sister. 2 Megan wears attractive clothes. S G H S D G K S D Q A O S 3 Jerry has been injured in an aeroplane accident. S J G T K J D C H U R C H 4 Joanna’s boyfriends are weak men. 5 Jerry finds the governess beautiful. I F H L T F I U W I M F O 6 Village life is full of scandal and gossip. P O S T O F F I C E S O P J K N U W H O N I T D S A 2 Vocabulary Complete the sentences with the correct adjectives from the T D W L E V M N P U G J O box. V I C A R F H L T D W L E weak curling bitter good-looking expressionless 5 Follow-up activity 1 Her perfect face, the ___________ golden hair, the tall Now complete the sentences with the correct word from beautifully shaped body. the wordsearch. 2 Mrs Cleat is an unusual woman with a ___________ sense 1 A village usually has a ______.
    [Show full text]