Hold Me Fast, Don't Let Me Pass

Plot

Chronological

The narrator tells the story of Hazel's trip to Scotland to find out more about her husband Jack's past.
The narrator does not hop back and forth between time frames, but instead refers to events from the past, while staying in the same time frame.

Conflicts

Hazel vs. Antoinette

Antoinette doesn't meet the expectations of hazel.

She doesn't want to talk about or admit what happend in the past with Jack.

Hazel vs. Margaret

Margaret Dobie doesn't fit the expectations either, even denies ever having known Jack.

Style & Structure

Room for interpretation

Writer lets us decide, what caused the death of Jack? was it the war? or was it everything else in his life?

Focus changes halfway

The focus changes from Hazel wanting to know more about her husband in a positive way to learning about her own life and thoughts and learning about what made her husband feel so miserable.

Setting

Time

Place

1980s

Selkirk County, Scotland

"Hazel was in her fifties..." tells us about her age at the time the story takes place

"Hazel was fifteen when the war ended" tells us that it should be approximately 35 years or over later than 1945.

Point of view

Third person limited omniscient

Figurative Language

"Whiskey'll do it"

Symbols and Motifs

Motifs

Recurring poems

A lot of alcohol is used throughout the story. It plays a part in almost every scene.

The unwillingness to talk about wartimes

symbolizes the impact a war has on people,
even when they're not willing to say so.

The Canadian Hazel orders 'Scotch', which sounds odd for the Scottish Dudley

Scottisch poems are being told repeatedly

Characterization

Round

Flat

Mrs. Dobie

Dudley (somewhere in between round/flat?)

Jack

Hazel

Antoinette

Dudley (somewhere in between round/flat?)

Judie

Themes

War

And the impact it has on everybody involved, actively or indirectly.

Love and relationships

Trust

who can you trust? Is something every really true, or is there always another side to a story?

Reader's response

I could really relate to the fact that war isn't something that wears off of people after a while. It sticks with you and makes you the person you are today. As a soldier myself I have many colleagues who have experienced this and still experience this today, and I actually feel that people who have never felt or seen the impact of a war on a person often downscale the effect it can actually have.