![]() ![]() For instance, the reader learns the fundamental fact about some incidents before the details are shaded in while other important information is withheld until the perfect moment of revelation. ![]() ![]() The novel is obsessed with time and in more ways than one. That the opening image of the novel focuses on a clock and-more importantly-symbolism related to the passage of time is not mere accident. THIS IS THE STORY OF MY GRANDMOTHER’S CONTINUALLY thwarted attempts to get married. One thing worth considering: does the opening intend to literally suggest that the sperm of the narrator’s father penetrated the egg inside her mother’s womb at precisely midnight? Hmm? The narrator is confronting both the philosophy of Descartes with the announcement that her mere conception rather than birth and subsequent ability to think is indicative of existing as well as Shakespeare with the reference to the Falstaffian line about “chimes at midnight.” That reference is also fraught with layers of meaning. ![]() The opening line of the novel is an inventive display of literary technique to offer a little twist on an event which has opened so many novels throughout history that it is has become almost impossible to tell it in any truly original way. I EXIST! I AM CONCEIVED TO THE CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT ON THE clock on the mantelpiece in the room across the hall. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. ![]()
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