Outside Reading, Week 5, Post A

Vocab
mottle (155): a diversifying spot or blotch of color

protuberant (124): bulging out beyond the surrounding surface

Figurative Language
"Like a fat mother and child, the lorry and tractor waddled some grey hours over ice to the outskirts of Kuzhnisk" (109).

This passage uses a simile to compare the way the lorry hauled the tractor to Kuzhinisk, to the way a fat mother and child would waddle the same way. While this helps the reader picture what this scenario might look like, it also hints at Ludmila's homesickness, in that she longs for her "fat mother" to waddle home with her.

"A broad, moustachioed man leant beside a stuffed weasel at the farthest end of the bar" (111).

In this excerpt, Ludmila enters a bar in Kuzhinisk to look for Ivan. She sees him, but claims that she sees a "stuffed weasel", showing a hyperbole (as she actually saw Ivan, not a stuffed weasel). This helps the reader see how Ludmila views Ivan, what Ivan looks like, and Ludmila's sarcastic wit.

"Around them flashed the naked circuitry of London: tail-lights splashing down glycerine roads, figures bustling like great-coated trolls past sand-and-soot structures daubed wet on to the night" (116).

Pierre uses several hyperboles to describe Blair and Bunny's first venture into the big city. He uses phrases like "great-coated trolls" and "sand-and-soot structures", which are obvious exaggerations (as there are no great-coated trolls nor structures made of sand and soot) to show how isolating the city seems to Blair and Bunny. Everything seems so big and new, yet at the same time, so hostile and unwelcoming.

Quote
"'[...] Better still, take my advice and get back on the train yourself, while you still have clear eyes. Take the advice from an old woman from Kuzhnisk'" (161).

I felt that this quote exemplifies the emerging theme of being frightened by new places that is driving the story forward. In both plot lines, characters attempted to be brave and leave home in search of success, but are now realizing that maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side. Now, they have to decide whether or not to go back, which is where this quote plays into Ludmila's decision.

Theme
The theme hasn't really changed much since last week, it is just more pronounced. Ludmila is now being fully thrust into an unfamiliar and hostile world and now longs to return home more than ever. In addition, Blair is now completely confused by the London social life and doesn't understand how to interact socially. He, too, now wants to return home.