Brooks 'Need To See In The Sacs'

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What We Need to See in the SACs 1) Year of Wonders suggests that from death and destruction eventually comes rebirth. Is this how you see the novel? • We should see a lot of examples about Anna – her rebirth and transformation. A comparison of Anna at the start of the story and at the end. She is the best example that rebirth and in literal fact, new growth, comes out of destruction. • We may have some students tackle the changes to the social fabric of the town, the emancipation of women and the rise of Elinor and Anna as town healers (who are more accepted than the Gowdies were). Anna begins as a servant, and certainly becomes more than that. • Mompellion should be mentioned – he completely reinvents himself. He loses…show more content…
She created a new life for herself after learning from her mistakes. • It would be pertinent to mention the Great Burning, and how this final destruction of all things related to the plague, brings about the end of the plague itself and the opportunity to LIVE and begin anew. • The end of the novel mentions nature reasserting itself and regrowing in the village – this is a visual symbol for readers that Brooks believes in a rebirth for the town. Anna also mentions how people are rebuilding and forging new friendships – such as the friendship between Jane Martin and Merry Wickford. • The babies at the end – we move from Aphra telling Anna it is “folly” to love an infant, to Anna finding new life with her daughters at the end – “This is my miracle”. • There may be mentions of everyone having to be broken down in order to be rebuilt anew. In fact, this would be an interesting contention to make – particularly if you argued that many of them are made stringer by…show more content…
Brooks shows that even the strongest of us have hours of darkness – such as when Anna succumbs to the poppy or leaves her father unattended impaled upon the mine, or even when she fails to save Faith and Aphra at the end. There is also her jealousy of both Mompellions to consider. This makes Anna more relatable as well. Anna is tested – and while she falls for a time she is reborn into a stronger person through her struggles. Students should link to the title of the novel in this. • Anna’s thirst for knowledge means that she is able to go beyond a simple experience of the plague and delve into the reasons behind it – both physical (with her healing and herblore) but also spiritual (consider the stone and how this leads to philosophical ruminations). Her hunger to learn also takes her far beyond the village to a place she never expected (nor does the reader). She is also intelligent enougn not to buy into the simple superstitions of the time, nor the hysteria that leads to mob to lynch the Gowdies. • In some ways, Anna ia also a very modern character – particularly due to the openmindedness she shows about the Gowdies and so on. This makes her easy for modern readers to relate to. • Without Anna’s transformation – we may become bogged down with the darkness in the novel. Brooks focuses on the power of transformation (thus the title) rather than the tragedy of the plague

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