GOING PLACES by A R BARTON
1. What is an idiom?
An idiom is a phrase (group of words) whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit.
‘Going Places’, is an idiomatic phrase which means to become very successful/ make progress / succeed especially in one’s career.
Sophie is day dreamer who wants to own a boutique( a shop specializing in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewellery). To get money for fulfilling this dream, she dreams further. She tells her friend Jansie, that she would become a manager or else an actress. If she would become an actress, she could still have her boutique on the side ( as a side business). All these her fantasies. She very often talks about her fantasies which no one in her family believes. Her latest one is when she tells her elder brother Geoff that she met the Irish football prodigy (a young person with unusual or remarkable qualities) Danny Casey. She describes him as having gentle green eyes and also tells Geoff and her father that Danny Casey told her about buying a shop.
Sophie tells Geoff that Danny Casey had promised to meet her again. It was a kind of ‘date’ (o go out with someone). She wishes that Geoff would believe her. She is very close to Geoff and wants to be a part of his grown up world. She imagines him to be going to far off places and have exotic friends. She dreams about riding into his world behind Geoff. All these reiterate the fact that Sophie was a dreamer living in her world of fantasies.
On Saturday, she went with her father and brothers to watch Danny Casey play and win the game for his club, United. Later, she goes to the wharf ( Where ships are tied for loading or unloading) to wait for Danny Casey. She imagines him coming to meet her and talking to her. When time passed, and there was no Danny Casey, she resigned (accepted the inevitable) to the fact that he would never come. She is upset.
The story ends with the fact that the only place and time Sophie met Danny Casey in person, in reality was at the stadium, when he played the match for his club the United.
Character of Sophie:
1. Ambitious 2. Wants to go places, wants to break free rom her world
2. Lives in a world of dreams, fantasy
3. Loves Geoff, her elder brother
4. Wants to be a part of his grown up world.
5. Possessive about him, wants him to understand and believe her.
6. She idealized Geoff, felt comfortable sharing her secrets with him.
7. His quiet personality attracted her because, she could imagine about his friends and the places he was going.
Character of Jansie:
1. Practical because she tries to dissuade Sophie from her dreams by talking about their real situation.
2. Realistic because she tells her friend about them being earmarked (somebody reserved for a specific purpose)for the biscuit factory.
3. Contented – happy and satisfied with whatever she had. Not very ambitious. Doesn’t want to go places.
4. A gossiper according to Sophie. Sophie did not share her imaginary meeting with Danny Casey with Jansie.
Character of Sophie’s father:
1. Hardworking (his appearance when Sophie came home).
2. Wanted to provide better facilities for the family (he asks Sophie to buy a decent house if she gets some money).
3. Practical
4. Doesn’t humour (encourage) Sophie by believing her wild stories.
5. Doesn’t indulge in self pity. Contented with his socio-economic position.
Socio-economic background of Sophie:
1. Middle class (conversation between Sophie and Jansie).
2. Need of a decent house, earmarked for the biscuit factory.
3. The incongruity (out of place) of her mother’s apron bow with the house and her mother’s bent back.
4. Small room, steamy.
5. Geoff working at a young age as an apprentice mechanic.
6. They went to the match by bus.
7. Her father’s bicycle at the pub seen by Sophie.
This chapter is about adolescent hero-worship and fantasizing.
Sophie hero worshipped Danny Casey and Geoff.
She fantasized about Danny Casey and dreamt about her brother’s grown up world.
The title of the lesson too is justified as ‘going places’ is an idiomatic expression meaning to be successful in one’s career. The lesson is about Sophie’s wish and fantasy to come out of the drudgery of belonging to the lower strata of society and to go places.
