Last Name 5 Name Instructors Course Number December 2014

Last Name 5nameinstructors Namecourse Number2 December 2014death In E

Last Name 5nameinstructors Namecourse Number2 December 2014death In E

Last Name 5nameinstructors Namecourse Number2 December 2014death In E

Last name 5 Name Instructor’s Name Course Number 2 December 2014 Death in Elizabeth Gaskell’s, North and South Introduction In the book, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell death plays a major role. It is a significant player in the overall structure of the book. At least six characters, both major and minor die in the novel; Boucher, his wife, Mrs. Hale Mr. Bell, Bessie and Mr.

Hale, all die in the novel. In addition, it is also said that Mr. Thornton’s father had committed suicide. Death creates a mood of grief in the novel thus affecting the overall structure. Death haunts the pages of the novel and completely takes the reader to the world of grief and sorrow In an interview the author Elizabeth Gaskell is actually quoted to have stated that she should have just called the novel, “Variations on Death.†Though she might have said that jokingly, it clearly shows that death in the novel affect the structure and the themes in a huge way.

With all the deaths and the loss of loved ones in the novel, a somber mood is felt throughout the novel. These deaths are connected to the themes of the novel. Grief is portrayed in the novel as a result of the deaths. There is deep sorrow in every death in the novel. Although as expected the reactions to the deaths vary in all the cases but there is still sorrow in all the cases.

Deaths in the novel and their effects Bessie dies as a result of the toxic effects which she suffered while she was still a child working in the mill. As a result of this, her father, Nicholas Higgins reacts with a lot of anger at the unfairness that he and other people like him have suffered. This death supports the theme of reality of death, which is a major theme in the novel. Mr. Hale’s is completely devastated after losing his wife.

His devastation is actually aggravated by the guilty feelings that he may have contributed to her speeded her death. When she comes to Milton, she is already sickly. Her sickness worsens when she gets there and she wastes away from her sickness when she arrives at Milton as she was unprepared for the place. Mr. Hale becomes helpless due to grief after losing his wife.

This leads to his death because of loss silent despair as he had lost the meaning of life. It is said that his ‘heart finally gives out’. This is a metaphor for saying that he eventually dies. Boucher is a working man who has a large family, and he refuses to become a part of the Union Committee. When the strike comes, he becomes very anguished and anxious about how to feed the large family.

He decides to lead several hundred people to Mr. Thornton's place where he threatens violence. When the strike fails and the mob gets dispersed, he tries to get employment and he is denied. This leads to devastation and he decides to commit suicide since he is unable to feed his large family. The effect of Boucher’s death is that his wife becomes very hopeless and desperate since she lost someone she fully dependent on.

As a result of this, she also dies, leaving the many children with no one to depend on. Class struggle is a theme in the novel. The Boucher’s case clearly shows this. His family is very poor and he is the bread winner for the family. He leads the mob to Mr.

Thornton's place so that their grievances can be listened to. Due to this he fails to secure himself a job leading to his death by suicide and thereafter the death of his weak wife. All these deaths are important to the development of the main characters and the resolution of the plot. It is because of these that the main characters in the novel get to make serious decisions in the novel. Self-possessed, passionate, haughty, and intelligent, Margaret is actually the novel's heroine.

Although in the novel she gets pushed into quick decision and action, Margaret is a deep thinker who at all times is the one carrying the weight of the family's suffering. She undergoes a lot of family tragedies but in the long run she achieves peace and clarity. Margaret is faced with the death of people she loves three times after she loses her best friend Bessie. When her mother dies, she knows that she must be very strong because her father cannot be due to his grief. Being a main character, death influences her actions.

When her father and her brother are engulfed and paralyzed by mourning, she decides to exert herself and make decisions for the family. This shows that death has had an effect on the development of the main characters and the resolution of the plot. When she loses her father, Margaret’s first reaction is to stay still so as to prostrate from shock, traumatized, and almost inconsolable. She, however, decides to pour her sorrows out when she sees her aunt as she is a reminder of her mother. She is energetic when she returns to England.

These deaths have completely shaped Margaret, who is a main character in the novel to the woman she becomes. The death of Mr. Bell’s the same year elicits more despair and grief. Margaret has actually lost three people from whom she got support and advice. This is actually the turning point in Margaret’s life.

She comes to the recognition that the only option is to be strong as the most important people in her life have died and left her on her own. When she recovers from her grief of the successive losses she decides to assume responsibility for her life and actually goes to another level of maturity in her life. The death of three of her most treasured people changed her perspective of life and she grew more mature and strong. She is among the main characters in the novel whose lives have been shaped by the deaths in the novel. When Mrs.

Hale is dying, she requests Mrs. Thornton at her deathbed to give advice and guide Margaret if it becomes necessary for her to do so. She agrees to do so although She dislikes Margaret very much in most cases in the novel, referring to her haughtiness, her pride and even her boldness in rejecting Mr. Thornton. This shows that death had a major part to play in this case as she could not reject Mrs.

Hale’s deathbed requests. As above mentioned, death is a constant factor that haunts the pages of the novel. Many of the characters have encountered death and this has molded them into the people the end up to be at the end of the novel. Margaret, who is the heroine of the novel has had to endure several losses of people she really loved. This has created a strong woman out of her and after all the deaths, she is seen as a mature woman who is in control of her life.

The reality of death is a major theme in the novel and the many deaths in the novel have made it possible for this theme to be properly displayed in the novel. Works Cited Gaskell, Elizabeth. North and south. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998 .

Gaskell, Elizabeth C, and Juliet Stevenson. North and South. North Kingstown: AudioGO, 2012. Internet resource. Gaskell, Elizabeth C.

North and South. Auckland, N.Z.: Floating Press, 2008. Internet resource. Gaskell, Elizabeth C, Joanne Shattock, Alan Shelston, Charlotte Mitchell, Joanne Wilkes, and Elisabeth Jay. The Works of Elizabeth Gaskell.

London: Pickering & Chatto, 2005. Print. Gaskell, Elizabeth C, and Alan Shelston. North and South: An Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. New York: W.W.

Norton, 2005. Print. Melikian, Anahid. North and South [by] Elizabeth Gaskell: Notes. Harlow: Longman, 1992.

Print. Welch, Sandy, Kate Bartlett, Brian Percival, Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, SineÌad Cusack, Lesley Manville, Tim Pigott-Smith, Pauline Quirke, Brendan Coyle, John Light, Martin A. Maxwell, Martin Phipps, and Elizabeth C. Gaskell. North & South. England: 2 Entertain Video Limited, 2005.