...Compass and Torch Children are always the victims, when it comes to divorce between parents. There is in this short story, ‘’Compass and Torch’’ written by Elizabeth Baines, no difference. The boy stands between a choice of his overprotecting mother who doesn’t trust the father of her son, and his masculine and macho father, who clearly has trouble on how to be together with his son. Throughout the father and sons trip, we follow the main characters thoughts. Jim, the mother’s new boyfriend, is not the eight year old boys biological father, and that is something that the boy is very aware of. Still, he is forcing himself to accept that even dough he is not his biological father, he still has an impact in his life. ‘’It is a good one, said Jim, pointedly approving, handling it back. ‘’Yes,’’ said the boy, forcing himself to acknowledge Jim’s kindness and affirmation. But Jim is not his dad.‘’ The boy is going to be together with his father, after four months waiting. The boy looks up to his father. ‘’The man says with robust authority: ‘’it’s an all-weather mountain tent. Two-man. ’’ The boy is thrilled. A tent to weather all conditions. In which he and his father will be two men.’’ He looks at his father, and sees his role model, because he is very macho and masculine. When he sleeps in the tent, be will no longer be a boy, but a man, just like his dad. The boy is trying to connect with his father, asking him questions about the compass for example. ‘’Is it the kind...
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...Compass and Torch The short story ”Compass and Torch” is a short story written with a 3.person narrator with a limited point of view. The story is about a boy, whose name we never get to know and it is also limited amount of details that we are given about the boy. He is 8 years old and lives with his mother and stepdad, who he is not amused about. We hear that when he compares his father to his stepdad named Jim. The boy is very fascinated by his father and looks up to him, even though the father hasn’t been a part of his for 4 month. In the text the reader almost only experiences the story from the boy’s view. We hear about the feelings of the boy; what he thinks, and how he experiences things. We get to know the boy better by these observations, for example when the boy “is intent. Watching Dad. Watching what dad is”. It seems like the boy has a hard time figuring out what “dad” is, and it feels like he has an ambivalent relationship to his real father and his stepdad. All though there is a physical distance between father and son, the boy have a hard time letting go of his father. The boy tries to connect with his father even though he is very distracted and never shows an interest in the conversations they have. The boy tries to build a stronger relationship to his father and every time he feels ignored or left behind makes excuses for his father. The boy supresses his own feelings, because it is too hard for him to feel the distance his father has taken to him...
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...Essay: Compass And Torch The short story Compass and Torch is written by Elizabeth Baines and published in 2003. I will in this essay discuss the relationship between the father and the boy and also include a characterisation of the boy. I will focus on the use of symbolism and the story’s main theme. The main character is an eight-year old boy. His mother and father are divorced. The boy lives with his mother and her new boyfriend Jim. He does not see his father very often. The boy is desperate for his father’s acknowledgement and is refusing to accept Jim as a replacement for his father. “”It’s a good one,” said Jim, pointedly approving, handing it back. “Yes,” said the boy, forcing himself to acknowledge Jim’s kindness and affirmation. But Jim is not dad.” (p. 8, ll. 33-35). The boy knows that Jim is only trying to be nice but does not believe anyone can do anything better than his dad. Jim is much more open and friendly towards the boy than his real father is but the boy can’t or will not see his father flaws. His mother does not believe the father will obtain to restore the broken relationship with his son. The boy’s knowledge of this only fuels his idolisation of his father. The father and the boy are not very close. They have not seen each other in four months prior to this camping trip. As much as they both want to be close, there is a distance between them. The father is first introduced as the man. The broken relationship as made them more as strangers...
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...Compass And Torch The majority of kids are looking up to their mom or dad. They are our role models, a hand to hold when life gets tough, and a shoulder to cry on when you are sad. Nevertheless, what if your mom or your dad is not there. Is it possible that another person can take his or her place? It is a hard question to answer. Some parents just give up on you and they are never coming back. However, some parents wants to make it up to their child again, and that is a hard thing to do. The enthusiasm to be together is there, but the atmosphere between for instance farther and son is strained. How is it to be together with your real father when your mom and dad are divorced, and your mother’s new boyfriend feels like a father to you every other day? The short story “Compass And Torch” written by Elizabeth Baines in 2003 relates to this question. In the short story, we hear about four people. Our main character is the boy, apart from him we here about his dad, his mom and his mother’s boyfriend Jim. The three most significant persons are the boy, his father and Jim. In spite of the fact that Jim is only his mother’s boyfriend, we have Jim as a very important person in the text, because the boy haven’t seen his real father in four months, and Jim is taking the role as a farther for the boy. “”Yes” said the boy, forcing himself to acknowledge Kim’s kindness and affirmation. But Jim is not his dad”(L.34-35 s. 2) The boy feels it very difficult not to compare his father and...
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...Compass And Torch The worst thing you can do is to forget your child, not physically forget it in the supermarket, but mentally forget it. The worst thing is to forget to take time of with your child, listen to it and talk to it. Show them that you are there for them and only for them. Some people never learn how to talk to children, even though it is their own children, but it dose not mean that you cannot listen to them and pay attention. Sometimes it is just as important as talking. In this short story the main themes are: a dad who loves his son, but show it on his completely own way. A boy who almost desperately craves for his dad’s attention and a typical strained relationship between a divorced couple. We never get to know the little boys name he is just been mentioned as “the boy”. He is eight years old and live together with his mom and his stepfather Jim. When “the boy” was seven his parents got divorced, and now the boy does not see his dad that often. It is like he has a kind of strained relationship to his mothers “new” boyfriend Jim. “The boy forced himself to put the torch into Jim’s … hand” when he use the word “forced” it is like he does not trust Jim to carry this torch and when the boy forces himself to recognize Jim’s kindness and affirmation … and then the boy think “But he is not dad”. He knows that Jim is there for him, and pay attention to him, but he should not like to think that he is the little boy’s dad. And therefore their relationship seems...
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...An Essay on ’Compass And Torch’ Today it’s not rare that parents split up, which can be very difficult for some children to deal with. At some point a mother and a father are the two most important people for a child’s future in life. It’s two people who can’t be replaced by anyone. Therefore most children feel caught between their parents after a divorce because they want both sides to be happy. This is clear in the Essay ‘Compass and Torch written by Elisabeth Baines. The boy whose parents are having a divorce seems to be a bit of insecure when it comes to his mother and father. He’s eight years old and lives with his mother and her new boyfriend Jim. He doesn’t like when his parents are fighting or arguing. He just wants peace and for them both to be happy. This is emphasized on p.7, lines: 16-26. The boy overhears his mother complaining about the boy’s father and he wants her to stop. He knows how to stop it by walking into the room. This is a sign of him wanting anything but peace between his parents. He’s very attached by the divorce and does what many divorce children do; blame themselves. This is why he’s seeking his father’s approval or attention. This is shown on p.8, line 34-35 when the boy emphasize that Jim is not his dad and never will be. Here it’s clearly that the boy only seeks his father’s approval and it’s only his father’s confirmation that is important to him. The relationship between father and son seems to be damaged by the divorce. It’s four...
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...Analysis and interpretation of Compass And Torch When growing up children fight to be accepted and to be heard by their parents. In society most parents are constantly on the run and they do not take the time to enjoy spending time with their loved ones. These children try to get attention from their parents, but if their parents do not hear them, then they will feel like they have failed, but because they love their parents they accept it, and do not question their parents’ behavior. At the same time parents might also try to reach their children, but they get lost and therefore the relationship between the child and the parent can be damaged, because neither of the parts feel like they get heard. Accepting and the fear of losing are two of the main themes in the short story Compass and Torch, where a father takes his son with him on a camping trip, where the son tries to talk to his father, but his father does not pay attention and his father tries to forget his anxiety to lose his son. Compass and Torch was written by Elizabeth Baines, an English writer and was published in 2003. The short story starts in medias res and the story is built up chronological with a few flashbacks between the camping trip and at his mother’s house. The story is set at two different locations, one location at the boy’s mother and her boyfriend’s house and the second location on the camping trip up in the mountains. The short story is...
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...Compass and Torch The short story is written by Elizabeth Baines in 2003. The short story starts with a boy and his father, they are going to a camping trip to try and make a relationship, and the relationship is the main theme in this short story, the boy who is the protagonist has a desire to be together with his father and he would do anything just to get his blessing. The relationship between the boy and the father is almost like it was nothing, (non existing) and they have not seen each other for a while. The writer already shows us from the beginning that the father is addresed as the man, and when the writer does that, it means that it signifies a lack of love between the father and the boy because the word ''man'' which is used alot in the story, does not mean anything about a father and a son relationship. The boy is 8 years old, and is a very clever boy. He wants to give his father a second chance to make up for the bad things he have done. Even though his relationship with his father is really bad, he still tells his mother to stop saying bad things about him. The father drinks in the essence of dadness which is used to show how much the little boy have missed his dad, and having him around, he ( the boy ) constantly tries to reach his dad trying to impress so he can notice him. The short story has used some symbolics in it, and they are very important for the text, because it they were not in here, the text would not make any sense. There are 2 symbols...
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...Compass and Torch by Elizabeth Baines The main theme of the short story “Compass and Torch” is the need of accept and attention from a parent. We all need to feel accepted or noticed, especially from our parents. Every single person have an unconscious need or desire to feel the approval from others. The desire to feel this from our parents derives from the feeling and urge to make them proud, to prove to them that they did not fail raising us; that we is worth the trouble. This need for approval follows us all till we someday decides that approval from our self is enough. In “Compass and Torch”, this desire is described through a young boy’s perspective. The boy experiences an extremely absent father, which barely notices him, throughout the whole text the boy seeks for the acceptance from his father. Torn between his parents caused by their divorce, the young boy feels split. The parent’s hatred for each other sparks between them as explosives ready to blow up, which has a huge impact on their son. The boy lives with his mother and her new boyfriend, Jim, who in the boy’s eyes never can replace his father in any way. His absent father is only infrequent visiting him, and does not play a huge impact on his son’s daily life. It is clearly that the boy’s mom sees the father’s non-attendance, as only another way to mock on him, she is defiantly angry with him maybe reasoned their divorce. In contraction to the boy’s point of view where the father represents his hero, his role...
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...Compass and torch The story is written by, the English writer Elisabeth Baines. Elisabeth lives in Manchester and have been a teacher for some years back. The story was published in 2003 in a book, with many other stories that she has written. The story is about a boy, who is going on a camping trip with his father, which he has not seen in 4 years. Which parents are divorced. His mother has gotten a new boyfriend who’s name is Jim. And he has moved in with them. But the boys’ father also wants to spend some time with his son. So the boy and his father are going on a camping trip on a mountain. But when the father comes to get his son, he starts to discuss with the boys’ mother, she don’t want her son to go, she think it is too dangerous. And the boy is searching for his torch. And he hears them when he goes down the stairs. But then they are going to camping. And when they start to walk on the mountain, they find’s out that they forgot their compass. And the boy freaks out, but then there is a man who has a compass. And then they continue to walk with the man. And they then reach the top of the mountain. And after that they keep walking. And then they are setting their tent up. In the story we don’t get many details about the boy. We don’t even know his name. What we do know is that he is 8 years old, and that he haven not seen his father for four months. The rest of the characterization is made by reading between the lines, because there are a lot of indirect impressions...
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...Section B Elizabeth Baine has written a short story “Compass and Torch”. The story is about a boy and his father who went on an expedition. They want to go camping on a mountain. The boy and the dad do not see each other much since the boy’s mother and father are divorced. In fact this is the first time in 8 months they are going to see each other again. The boy’s mother are not thrilled hearing that the father are taking the boy for an expedition and neither are the mother’s boyfriend Jim. They see it, as the father is not irresponsible enough. The boy and the father do not seem to have much I coming. All though they still seems to love and care about each other. When they are on the expedition they do not have much to talk about and mostly it is the boy being chattering and the father answering him. But there is still a bond between the boy and the father that no one can replace. As the boy shows his torch to the mother’s boyfriend Jim, he thinks, “But Jim is not my dad.” (Page 8, line 35) All though Jim are talking to the boy nicely and are very kind. The boy and the father are several times looking fascinated by each other. No matter how sweet the mother and her boyfriend are to the boy, they never will be able to have the same influence to the kid as the father has. The boy is the main character of the story. He has his father, mother and the mother’s boyfriend Jim. This typical situation we see now a day for modern families. The boy is deeply moved by his father...
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...Adult Aeroplane Air Aircraft Carrier Airforce Airport Album Alphabet Apple Arm Army Baby Baby Backpack Balloon Banana Bank Barbecue Bathroom Bathtub Bed Bed Bee Bible Bible Bird Bomb Book Boss Bottle Bowl Box Boy Brain Bridge Butterfly Button Cappuccino Car Car-race Carpet Carrot Cave Chair Chess Board Chief Child Chisel Chocolates Church Church Circle Circus Circus Clock Clown Coffee Coffee-shop Comet Compact Disc Compass Computer Crystal Cup Cycle Data Base Desk Diamond Dress Drill Drink Drum Dung Ears Earth Egg Electricity Elephant Eraser Explosive Eyes Family Fan Feather Festival Film Finger Fire Floodlight Flower Foot Fork Freeway Fruit Fungus Game Garden Gas Gate Gemstone Girl Gloves God Grapes Guitar Hammer Hat Hieroglyph Highway Horoscope Horse Hose Ice Ice-cream Insect Jet fighter Junk Kaleidoscope Kitchen Knife Leather jacket Leg Library Liquid Magnet Man Map Maze Meat Meteor Microscope Milk Milkshake Mist Money $$$$ Monster Mosquito ...
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...savage. He has figuratively and literally become an animal at this point in time. He is so broken off from decency that he no longer cares how violent and brash his actions are. Furthermore, there is another example which symbolizes the breakdown of human concern in the form of a painting. Kurtz painted a vivid picture of a blindfolded woman carrying a torch (Conrad). This is symbolic of how Kurtz and the company became blind to what was right. With these two symbols, it is obvious that Kurtz and the Company have become more and more dehumanized the longer they stay in the Congo. Conrad uses the literary element of characterization to demonstrate the depravity of both Kurtz and Marlow when they are removed from society. Kurtz is characterized by greed, pride, and a lust for power and money all throughout the novel (Conrad). Kurtz embodies the devil and his nefarious schemes. All Kurtz is after is riches and personal gain, which shows just how deteriorated he has become. The separation from civilization has caused Kurtz to go completely insane and utterly degenerated. In contrast, Marlow is characterized as someone with a moral compass who is also easily swayed in his way of thinking (Conrad). Marlow believes that lying is an atrocious act at the beginning of the novel, but as time goes on, he finds himself lying without a second thought. The jungle separated him from his moral spectrum and caused him to slowly become desensitized to sinful behavior. Both characterizations of Kurtz...
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...Climbing Rock climbing is an activity that can be performed individually or as a group. It involves ascending a steep object e.g. a rock face. Climbing is usually done with specialist equipment such as rope, harness and climbing shoes. The national governing body for climbing is the BMC, British mountaineering council. There are many places around the world that you can climb, some are natural and some manmade. There are many different types of climbing for example, top rope, lead, bouldering and solo climbing. Climbing is a popular sport in the UK and there is an increasing number of people taking up climbing, one of the reasons for this is because no matter what age or ability climbing is available to everyone. The grading system rates a climb according to its technical difficulty of the route. A hard grade would be 9+ and an easier grade would be an F4. There are thousands of places around the world with some amazing places to climb and there are also lots of indoor climbing walls which give you a great opportunity to climb whatever the weather. Climbing competitions are held all over the globe and there is coverage of some of the bigger events on TV and the internet which inspires more and more people to want to take part. Climbing is a good way to develop team work, trust and communication in groups. Orienteering The aim of orienteering is to navigate yourself around a map finding the different check point spots as you go. Participants must decide the best route on the...
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...7-2521 stumbled upon a dead frog. They decided to cut it open. As Equality 7-2521 began to cut the dead frog open, they noticed the leg of the frog jerking. There were some unknown powers from the men that was causing the frog to jerk the way that it did. After several different tests on what possibly could be causing this frog to move, there it was. There was a piece of wire the frog was hanging by. Equality 7-2521 found a box of brine and put a piece of copper inside. They attached the wire the frog was hanging by to the copper inside of the box and noticed they have discovered a new power and a new miracle. This miracle defies all of the laws known to the men. Equality 7-2521 noticed the power from the frog controlled the needle on the compass that was stolen from the Home of Scholars. Equality 7-2521 noticed the frog has the power to control electricity. The men never knew were thunderstorms came from but when the wire was connected to the frog, Equality 7-2521 held up a rod and the sky lit up with lightening. Equality 7-2521 starts to wonder and worry because he feels that he is the only one with knowledge and the Council of Scholars taught him they are the only ones that know everything and all of the men should share all collective knowledge. The fact of Equality 7-2521 being the only one knowing about the power cannot be true due to the fact that nobody else knows about it. Equality 7-2521 wants to share his knowledge with the Council of Scholars but is too frightened because...
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