Iris Liu

o he Chonch thos leafs

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

@bibombshell14 @litwithlayton Geez tag ur spoilers bro

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

This contrast is also present during their rehearsal- Mark is more idealistic and self determined as he rails against the injustice of the court system, while Fiona appears more resigned and only cares about the music #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

McEwan uses irony to emphasize Fiona’s emotions at the concert: while the performance occurs as Mark is finding love, Fiona is facing the death of Adam and her broken marriage #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

The envelopes Adam sends to Fiona are always blue. Any thoughts as to the symbolism of this color? #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

“She realized there was much more to confront in her confused mix of feelings, but for now it was the horror of...the ludicrous and shameful transgression of professional ethics” (180) - yet again, Fiona places professional values above personal/emotional needs #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

When Fiona first meets the other guests at Newcastle, McEwan presents their conversation as a paraphrased list of subjects instead of using actual dialogue- suggestive of Fiona’s boredom at this small talk #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

McEwan highlights Adam’s almost inhuman characteristics - black violet eyes, a white tongue - which emphasizes his unique personality as an unusually innocent, intelligent, and religiously devoted boy #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

Fiona says she’s “not ultimately influenced” by whether Adam fully understands how much he will suffer. This is somewhat in line with an existentialist view - it shouldn’t really matter in what manner Adam dies, but the fact that he does die is more important #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

Fiona says Adam’s room is full of “disorienting contrasts”, which parallels Adam’s own contrasts. He’s very smart, but is (perhaps illogically) committed to dying for religion; he’s innocent but profound; he’s dying but just beginning to learn violin #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

Fiona does lots of “unprofessional” things when she visits Adam, like singing along w his violin. Perhaps this meeting has moved Fiona to become more spontaneous and feeling, as when she was young #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

“She belonged to the law just as some women had once been brides of Christ” (49) This comparison with religion again underscores how Fiona’s decisions can be just as removed (and possibly inconsequential) as the ordains of religion that her cases deal with #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

“The Jewish girls, Rachel and Nora, must hover behind her like Christian angels and wait” (20). Why does Fiona compare the Jewish girls to something from Christianity? It seems like a strange choice. #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

The first page of Children Act is a rote, objective description of setting-reflective of the distant rationality Fiona uses as a judge #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

Do the conjoined twins parallel Fiona’s marriage? Like Matthew, Fiona cannot survive without her partner - but her partner might be better off with more independence. Mark lives if separated from his twin; her husband will be more fulfilled w an affair #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

“He could either sit down or stand up” (118). As Meursault is about to die, this phrase parallel to “shoot or not shoot” and “to stay or to go” again emphasizes the futility of life #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

Interesting how Camus ends the novel not with the execution-technically the appeal could still have gone through and M could have lived. I guess it serves to make Meursault’s realizations at the end hold more importance than the actual act of living/dying itself #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

As Meursault is about to be sentenced all he thinks about is “the smells of summer, the part of town I loved, a certain evening sky...” - ultimately these details amount to just simple existence in the world, which is what Meursault values the most #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

The lawyer wears a dark suit despite the hot weather - he values social standards above personal need. As such, he is disgusted by Meursault’s refusal to abide by convention at his mother’s funeral #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

As Ch 6 nears to an end, Meursault describes the weather getting hotter and hotter - similar to how the events mount in intensity, culminating in him killing the Arab man #laylit18

[Iris Liu @IrisLitTweets]

The native Arabs in this novel are either reduced to servants (the nurse at the old people’s home) or miscreants (the men who attack Raymond and Raymond’s cheating mistress) - evidence of the French colonialist mindset #laylit18