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Picnic at Hanging Rock: Gothic Genre - Coggle Diagram
Picnic at Hanging Rock: Gothic Genre
Theme of Colonialism
Setting: College
"For the inmates of Appleyard College"
Due of the restricted and limited freedom placed upon them, they are referred to as inmates.
There is a sense of entrapment and confinement.
Setting: The Hanging Rock
“Insulated from natural contacts with earth, air and sunlight, by corsets pressing on the solar plexus, by voluminous petticoats, cotton stockings and kid boots”
Effectively, the verb ‘insulated’ demonstrates how the girls were encircled by nature, and their odd relationship with the surroundings; this represents the unpredictability of nature’s power, together with colonial uncertainties and concerns
“The Hanging Rock itself was a mass of confusion, a jumble of rocks piled one upon another”
Notably, the noun "confusion" may relate to the power and influence the rock may have over individuals when they lose sight of the reason they are on the Rock. A different perspective can highlight how little is known about the girls' location and how the girls' disappearance is a symbol of the significant dangers of the Australian outback.
Mystery of Time
*The clock on the mantelpiece seemed to have stopped, or was it ticking too fast?"
The novel's non-linear structure, which swings back and forth in time, aims to emphasize the concept of time's nature and its unpredictability.
"He couldn't remember how long he'd been there, or how he'd got there, or what he was supposed to be doing."
Gloomy Atmosphere
“The silence was intense, the shadows deep, the colours muted, as if the landscape were holding its breath”
Significantly, the noun ‘silence’, together with the adjective ‘muted’, signifies the disappearance of the girls, and the assumption of non-existent life into the depths of unpredictability
“The creek gurgled as it had been gurgling ever since over the smooth stones”.
The phrase "creek gurgled" personifies the unexpected, strangely unpleasant mood of the surroundings, but it could also imply how the Hanging Rock deceives people into doubt, confusion, and possibly even death.