Heavenly Creatures Quotes

For Rose!

Here are some quotes from the film ‘Heavenly Creatures’:

Juliet Hulme: Only the best people fight against all obstacles in pursuit of happiness.

Juliet Hulme: All the best people have bad chests and bone diseases. It’s all frightfully romantic.

Pauline Parker: She is most unreasonable. Why could not mother die? Dozens of people are dying all the time, thousands, so why not mother? And father too.

Pauline Parker: [voiceover, from her diary] We have decided how sad it is for others that they cannot appreciate our genius.

Pauline Parker: Oh, I wish James Mason would do a religious picture! He’d be perfect as Jesus!
Juliet Hulme: Daddy says the Bible’s a load of bunkum!
Pauline Parker: But we’re all going to heaven?
Juliet Hulme: I’M not! I’M going to The Fourth World… it’s sort of like heaven. Only better, because there aren’t any Christians!

[Of Pauline’s ‘problem’]
Doctor Bennett: Chances are she’ll grow out of it. If not… well, medical science is progressing in leaps and bounds. There could be a breakthrough at any time!

Pauline Parker: [narrating] We realised why Deborah and I have such extraordinary telepathy and why people treat us and look at us the way they do. It is because we are MAD. We are both stark raving MAD!

Pauline Parker: [narrating] This notion is not a new one but this time it is a definite plan which we intend to carry out. We have worked it out carefully and are both thrilled by the idea. Naturally we feel a trifle nervous, but the pleasure of anticipation is great.

Juliet Hulme: Stick it up your bottom!

Juliet Hulme: Bloody Bill’s sniffing around Mummy something chronic!
Pauline Parker: I thought he was supposed to be terribly ill.
Juliet Hulme: That’s what we were led to believe.

Pauline Parker: [narration] The next time I write in this diary, Mother will be dead. How odd… yet how pleasing.

Pauline Parker: It’s a three act story with a tragic end.

John: I love you so much Paul. Do you love me as much as I love you?
Pauline Parker: Of course I do, Nicolas.
John: My name is John.
Pauline Parker: Oh, but I like Nicolas so much better!

Juliet Hulme: [speaking too brightly of the murder of Honorah Parker Rieper] I think she knows what’s going to happen. She doesn’t appear to bear us any grudge.

Juliet Hulme: [Juliet has just arrived at her new school. For French class she has taken the name Antoinette] Excuse me, Miss Waller, you’ve made a mistake. “Je doutais qu’il vienne” is in fact the spoken subjunctive.
Miss Waller: It is customary to stand when addressing a teacher,
[pause]
Miss Waller: Antoinette.
Juliet Hulme: [stands] You should have written “vînt”.
Miss Waller: I must have copied it incorrectly from my notes.
Juliet Hulme: [stands] You don’t need to apologise, Miss Waller. I found it frightfully difficult myself until I got the hang of it.

Juliet Hulme: Affairs are much more exciting than marriages.
[Then, with disgust]
Juliet Hulme: As Mummy can testify.

[shortly before the murder]
Juliet Hulme: [admiring the view that includes the path down the hill, where the murder occurred] Isn’t it beautiful?
Pauline Parker: Let’s go for a walk down here. Come on, Mummy!
Honorah Parker Rieper: Oh! No, I’d like a cup of tea, first. Come on!
[the girls reluctantly follow her into the tea-house]

[last lines]
[the last lines show scenes of the murder intercut with b&w shots of Juliet being taken away by her parents on the ship. Pauline and Juliet are sobbing and screaming for each other; and the girls scream as they beat Honorah Parker to death]
Juliet Hulme: Gina!
[sobs as she reaches a hand over the ship railing]
Pauline Parker: Juliet, don’t leave! I’m coming! Don’t go! You can’t! Oh, no!
[as the girls cry and reach helplessly toward each other, Juliet’s parents come and stand on either side of her, trying to comfort her]
Juliet Hulme: I’m sorry…
[Pauline screams, and the b&w scene fades into the murder scene]
Pauline Parker: No!
[That last bloody shot fades into the credits]

[first lines]
[Director Peter Jackson opens with the scene that should, logically, end the film: that is, the moments immediately following the murder. The girls Juliet and Pauline run screaming up the hill-path to the tea-house, sobbing and covered in blood. The scene is intercut with b&w visions of the two running across a ship deck to meet Dr. and Mrs. Hulme, whom they both refer to as their mother, as the first three exclamations of “Mummy!” demonstrate]
Juliet Hulme: Mummy!
Pauline Parker: Mummy!
Juliet Hulme: Mummmmy!
[the scene changes from the ship to the hilltop tea-house. The girls are screaming hysterically as the tea-house woman runs out to see what the noise is all about]
Pauline Parker: It’s Mummy! She’s terribly hurt!
Juliet Hulme: Please! Help us!

Quotes taken from IMDB. For more go to Heavenly Creatures script.

Pointers for writing a good exam essay

Pointers for writing a good exam essay:

• know your quotes.
  Make sure you are armed with a range of accurately remembered quotations and/or points of evidence (eg plot events/comments on narrative point of view). Correctly remembered quotes will help you remember the important themes more easily!
• know your stuff.
  What are the themes and important messages of the texts you are looking at ?
  What techniques used by the writer are easiest and most useful to comment on ?
• know your question.
  Be very careful to pick out the key terms from the question and mention them (sometimes rephrased) throughout your essay.
• know your structure.
  Go for a three part introduction; followed by the body of the essay which contains the answer to the question; and a conclusion
  Introduction (key terms of question; identification of selected character/incident/theme/structure; the brief statement of the relationship between what you have identified and the question.
  Middle – this is where you would answer the question (and in the process show your ability to understand and appreciate the effectiveness of the text)
  Conclusion where you show how the evidence you’ve provided has answered the question – and where you say something evaluative about the text as a whole.
• know the time -Keep an eye on the clock, allowing time to write a very quick plan for each essay!

How to structure an introduction

 

Your essay introduction should do three things:

1. Show that you have understood the key terms in the question
2. State which character(s)/scene(s)/theme(s)/incidents/etc you are going to discuss – depending on what the question has asked you. (If, for example, the question asks about an important character, identify the character you are going to concentrate on; or if the question is about a theme of interest to Year 11 students, identify the theme you are going to discuss…)
3. Show briefly how the character(s)/theme(s)/incident(s)/scene(s) is/are related to the question. (For example, that you are going to show that the important character does have a real influence on the theme/s of the novel – if that was what the question asked…)

Futility

Most war poetry conveys a sense of anger. ‘Futility’ by Wilfred Owen conveys a sense of sorrow. You need to know what techniques Owen used to achieve this and consider how successful that this poem is in expressing his disillusionment with the war.

The sense of sorrow in the poem is created through the tone. The poet does not come through as angry or bitter but with a sense of sadness and resignation. Owen carefully chooses words to do this. ‘Gently’, ‘rouse’, ‘warm’, ‘whispering’ help achieve this effect, as they are very gentle. On top of this the poet seems to regard the soldier as a very important person. This is important because so many soldiers were sent like cattle to their deaths for little gain. They were led by incompetent generals who maybe gained a few yards of territory for the loss of many of their men.
Owen divides the poem into two verses. In the first he seems hopeful that the soldier will live:

‘ If anything might rouse him now
The kind old sun will know’

However in the second verse Owen asks the question of what is the point in life among the carnage.

‘O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth’s sleep at all?’

As this comes at the end of the poem it gives the lines extra emphasis and makes the reader think more deeply about the waste of War.

Why did Golding write Lord of the Flies?

Golding wrote ‘Lord of the Flies’ to show a very pessimistic vision of mankind. In the past some writers tended to take the view that if left to their own devices man would organise himself into effective groups that would act in a civilised manner. However ‘Lord of the Flies’ chillingly explores what Golding considers to be the reality. That is if there were no laws and no authority then man would descend into savagery and exploit the weak. The group mentality would swamp individual morality with terrible consequences. Ralph weeps for the loss of innocence because he is faced with the knowledge of just how horrific man can be.

Mother’s “moider”

I have posted a level one ‘Heavenly Creatures’ essay below.

Describe a situation or event in the text that shocked or surprised you. Explain how visual and/or verbal features were used to make you feel shocked or surprised.

A shocking event in the film ‘Heavenly Creatures’ directed by Peter Jackson was the murder of Honora Rieper by her daughter Pauline and friend Juliet Hulme. Jackson used sound, point of view camera shots and a flash-forward to make the viewer feel shocked and horrified by the murder.

The use of sound is perhaps better described as the absence of sound. The murder scene is eerily quiet. Jackson chooses not to use overly dramatic musical accompaniment, or particularly loud sound effects as one would usually expect in the climactic scene of a film. All that the viewer hears is the sound of the brick smashing into Honora’s skull, and the girls yelling and screaming as they beat her. Jackson wants us to hear the scene as Pauline and Juliet would have. When they were murdering Honora, there wasn’t an orchestra in the background. Jackson makes this event so shocking by letting us hear it as it would have been heard. The murder becomes not some dramatic moment in a story, but a real event that occurred in the foothills of Christchurch. It is so shocking because it becomes real.

The murder is shown to us in a series of point of view camera shots, to shock us by showing the murder from all three characters perspectives. We see close up shots of the bloody faces of Pauline and Juliet, of Honora lying on the ground, and of the brick being flung. Not only do we experience the murder through the ears of those present, but Jackson shocks us by showing us the murder through their eyes too. By seeing things from each character’s perspective, Jackson helps us to understand some of what the characters must have been feeling. How awful it must have been for Honora to watch her daughter, covered in blood, flinging a brick at her own mother’s head. It is shocking to us that the girls could continue with the murder when we see, through the point of view shots, how horrendous it must have been. We cannot understand how they could commit such an awful crime.

Jackson uses the convention of flash-forward to further shock us at the brutal murder of Honora. At the beginning of the film, we see Juliet and Pauline running up a hill, covered in blood. Pauline cries ‘It’s Mummy! She’s terribly hurt!’ The viewer realises that something awful has happened to ‘Mummy’, and as the film progresses, we discover the plans of Pauline to ‘moider’ her mother. But it is still hard to believe that she will actually carry out her plan. Jackson uses flash-forward to show us that Pauline does in fact murder her mother. Somehow, knowing all along what the outcome will be makes the murder even more shocking. Jackson wants us to be horrified that Pauline and Juliet have the internal drive to go through with the murder.

Jackson makes the murder of Honora Rieper even more shocking through the use of sound, point of view shots and flash-forward. He shows us the murder through the eyes and ears of the characters, helping us to experience it in a real and shocking way. And we are shocked that the horror that we knew must be coming does actually occur; that Pauline and Juliet have enough hate for Honora to go through with her murder.

Essay on Jack

The essay that follows is a level one response on the character Jack in ‘The Lord of the Flies’.

A major change in a character in the novel the ‘Lord of the Flies’ was that in Jack. He was the first to cast off the restraints of civilisation and led the boys down a path of savagery.

In the beginning Jack was somewhat of a bully, held by the restraints and taboos of civilisation. Despite his frustration at Ralph’s leadership, “I should have been chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “I’m head boy and chapter chorister”, he follows Ralph and the fragile rules of the boys society. However, Jack is soon driven to savagery by his ever growing lust for meat and longing to hunt and kill. “We need meat!” When Jack painted his face, the mask liberated him from the constraints of society and civilisation, “and his laugh becomes a blood-thirsty snarl”.

His new-found savagery drives him to discard ideas and hopes of rescue, turning his attention to hunting. This causes him to ignore his responsibility to keep the fire alight, he lets it go out. This is a major turning point in the story as the boys, following Jack’s example, change their priority from rescue to a savage lust for meat, a lust to kill. It also marks the start of a rift between Jack and Ralph. Ralph reprimands Jack, furious that they missed out on a vital chance for rescue. Jack retaliates by challenging Ralph’s leadership and leaving to form his own “tribe” where he could be chief. This is the turn to savagery Golding wants us all to see. The boys give up the democracy offered by the conch in favour of the savagery offered by Jack. They do this in favour of the chance to hunt, the chance to kill.

Jack’s turn to savagery marks the collapse of the boys’ fragile society. He leads the boys’ in order to fulfil his own savage desires, “We want meat”. The boys fall into a system of anarchy which ultimately leads to killing, the slaughter of Simon and later Piggy.

Last minute study links

For those of you who want some quick links to revision material – try the wikipedia links below as they have information on the texts plus useful links.

Wikipedia Lord of the Flies.

Wikipedia Catcher in the Rye.

Wikipedia To Kill a Mockingbird.

Wikipedia The Handmaid’s Tale.

Wikipedia The Crucible.

Wikipedia The Kite Runner.

The past claws its way out

‘It is wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.’

The quote above is obviously a very important one in terms of the theme of The Kite Runner. Think about how this idea is developed in the book.

‘The Kite Runner’, begins with the protagonist Amir, a thirty-eight year old man, reflecting on his recent experience where his past ‘had come calling’. Up to that point he had tried hard to bury his shameful memories of watching the abuse of his friend Hassan when he was twelve years old and did nothing to stop it. He thought as most of us do that the past is the past and that he should just get on with his life. However, as he admits at the very outset of the novel he was to discover that the past has its way of clawing out.

The event that is at the centre of this story is his act of cowardice when Hassan, is caught in an alley and viciously raped by one of their neighbourhood thugs intent on revenge. Rather than standing up for Hassan as Hassan has done for him on so many occasions, Amir hides and then creates a charade to cover it up. At first he tries to bury his shame by avoiding and ignoring Hassan. ‘I made sure our paths crossed as little as possible, planned my day that way.’ He then falsely accuses Hassan of theft so as to force his removal from their house. The Soviet invasion then intervenes and forces Amir and his father Baba to escape and forge a new life in America. ‘For me, America was a place to bury my memories.’ Amir immerses himself in study, finds a suitable wife and tries as best he can to be a worthy son to Baba.

Only very occasionally do the memories of Hassan and the shame of his past come to mind, such as on the evening of his graduation when Baba says he wishes Hassan had been here with them and Amir finds himself feeling choked by steel hands. Amir is also aware that like Soraya he has a secret; ‘I’d betrayed Hassan, lied, driven him out, and destroyed a forty-year relationship between Baba and Ali’. But unlike Soraya he has kept it hidden from anyone else. He is still acting in a cowardly way. It is finally a phone call from his Rahim Khan in Pakistan which jolts him back to some level of accountability. The invitation to visit him, Amir realised later, was set up by Rahim Khan in order to give him the opportunity to right the wrong he had committed, giving him ‘a way to be good again’.

The visit to Pakistan makes Amir aware of the fate of Hassan and his family and the tragedy that has enveloped Afghanistan over the years. He also discovers truth about his father that changes his preconceptions. Amir is now faced with a choice. He can deal with some of the shame that lies beneath the surface of his own heart and address his cowardice or he can return to the safety and sanctuary of his new life. The dreams that are woven into the novel show the way the past has haunted him. For example, he sees himself as the man holding the rifle and blasting Hassan’s head as he kneels blindfolded on the street. Indeed the past has clawed its way up to the surface. This shows how our subconscious mind has a way reminding us of our past whether we want it to or not.

Amir chooses to return to Afghanistan and grasp ‘this one last chance at redemption.’ His quest is to find Hassan’s son, Sohrab, who has been left orphaned. It also involves having to risk his life and be brutally injured in order to finally stand up to Assef. With the breaking of his ribs and the pain of the bodily assault he admits that ‘for the first time, since the winter of 1975, I felt at peace.’ Amir, then, has the ability to go through the traumas that lie ahead and to take the responsibility for Sohrab’s future because he has learnt for himself what loyalty and courage entails. The past has not only clawed its way out, it has provided a way forward.

Does Amir redeem himself?

Do you think that by the end of Khaled Hosseini’s “The Kite Runner” that Amir has redeemed himself?

It is true that Amir was often selfish, cowardly and disloyal as a child. Even as he matures he tends to think more of himself than others. When he decides to rescue Sohrab he only agrees to do it after a great deal of pressure from Rahim Khan. Amir seems more motivated by his need to feel “good” about himself rather than by genuine concern for Hassan’s son. Redemption is not achieved easily in Amir’s case but he eventually makes the choice he has to make. He shows great courage in facing up to the sadistic bully Assef and becomes the “old warrior” of the Afghan legend who can finally acknowledge his own “worthiness”.

Amir also comes to care deeply for Sohrab and he finally makes amends for his betrayal of Hassan. He atones not only for his own sins but also for those of Baba’s. The final image of Amir running, with “the wind blowing in [his] face … and a smile as wide as the Valley of Panjsher” suggests to the reader that whatever Amir has suffered to get redemption, it has been well worth it.