How Does Samuels Use Language Effectively in Kindertransport?

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How Does Samuels Use Language Effectively and Meaningfully? Samuels uses a wide variety of language techniques effectively and meaningfully in the play Kindertransport. These include language which is used to: connect past to the present, to hurt, create misunderstanding, expose relationship, display Evelyn’s refusal to talk about her past and to create dramatic tension. Throughout the play, there are two storylines; one to present Evelyn as Eva to the audience in the past, with the other to show the audience the present Evelyn and her relationships. With these two storylines entwining, with one depicting the past and the other, the future, there is certainly a lot of connections between past and present. Samuels uses language effectively and meaningfully to develop the plot further, whilst trying not to confuse the audience. A method in which Samuels enhances to make this connection is her use of motifs. An example of these motifs is the jewels that are given from Helga to Eva. This motif first appears when Eva inherits them from her birth Mother- Helga. “‘You are my children. You are my jewels.’ He told me. ‘We old ones invest our future in you’”. By likening Eva to a jewel it shows how Helga believes that Eva is precious and unspoilt, in the sense that she will forever retain her innocence. The next time the jewels are referred to be the night before Eva’s departure from Germany- “We all die one day, but jewels never fade or perish. Through our children we live. That’s how we cheat death.” This again shows that Eva is like a jewel, precious and unspoilt. But more importantly, it shows how it is not Helga that ‘cheats death’ it’s her memory that will ‘never fade or perish’. This could be perceived as a warning to Eva that despite whatever happens in England- Helga will always be her Mother; she will always speak German and be Jewish. In other words, by likening

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