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Brooks demonstrates the difficulty of holding onto faith in times of…
Brooks demonstrates
the difficulty of holding onto
faith
in times of
adversity
Brooks highlights the difficulty of maintaining faith in God and maintaining faith in oneself
many characters who are entirely dependent on god will lose faith in them self when they lose faith in god.
Mompellion
'he is finally lost'
'his grief has undone him'
Jane Martin
'within a month she had shrugged off her Sadd colours and tight lipped ways'
Brooks shows that those who maintain faith in them self have strength that stems from their characteristics from before the plague
Anna
'widowed at eighteen'
'alcoholic father'
Anys
'it takes a certain courage to care so little for what people whisper in a town as little as this'
'she walks with too much pride in her step for a poor orphan'
Elinor
ran away with her lover as a young woman
The faith and strength of the women is made all the more admirable due to their role within the heirarchy
Anys
she is independent
Seen as witch
ostracised by village
'she used the only weapon she had at hand.. your own ugly thoughts and evil doubtings of one another'
Anna
shows her independence
she goes into the mine despite sam having died in the same way
after George Viccars comes she has a greater idea of the outside world, her continual visitation to the same locations in the village (Rectory, Cucklet delf and the miners tavern) reinforces the difficulty of remaining in the 'wide green prison' for a woman such as anna
The ability to retain faith in the social hierarchy and religious dogma is perceived as weakness
Elizabeth Bradford
'left .. in such haste'
'sour faced and spoiled'
'a bastard born of adultery'
She flees the town at the first opportunity
Colonel Bradford
'Elinor's presence enhanced his own standing and that was all that mattered'
'the best physic against the plague is to run far from it'
'he found perverse amusement in belittling his wife'
Mompellion
'there is a great difference between repentance and atonement'
'if only we trust in god to performs his wonders'
enforced abstinence with Elinor is perceived as cruel
John Gordon
'he looked around wildly for his wife'
'he stripped me and burnt my clothes'
Faith
religious faith
faith that times will be better
Adversity
loss of friends and family
fear that the plague brings
loss of help within the town
Townspeople turning on one another
holding onto hope
resisting the temptation to leave
Brooks demonstrates
returning to the same location over and over, reminding the reader of how small the town is and how confined the people feel. no contact with the outside world.
Through Anna continually revisiting moments of Joy, and through the moments where she is unable to find joy and feels as though she is 'listening from afar'
By using Jane Martin as an analogy for loss of faith; in the beginning of the novel she is very strict and faith abiding and once the plague arrives she loses faith and 'allows the vessel of her body to be filled with corruption'