Analysis of chapter two- A handful of dust

The first 200 words of this essay...

Close analysis of Chapter two, section three

1. What is the significance of Polly Cockpurse's name?

Polly Cockpurse is a social climber whose smartness is graced by neither elegance nor dignity. Filling her days with gossip and a never ending quest for novelty: new restaurants, new 'bonesetters', new scandals and most significantly, new lovers. Polly is known to mean 'caring and loyal friend', and this is ironic when it is in fact Polly who encourages Brenda's 'walkout'; '... with the exception of her sister's, opinion was greatly in favour of Brenda's adventure. The morning telephone buzzed with news of her... The choice of Beaver raised a whole escapade into a realm of poetry for Polly...' This poses the question- is Polly really a caring and loyal friend as her name suggests? Waugh is demonstrating the irony, as Polly seems only interested in gossip, and does not have Brenda's best interests at heart. Her last name suggests promiscuity, and is considerable as she too is a lurid lady who we know has many affairs.

2. Why does Jenny call Tony Teddy?

Jenny insists on calling Tony Teddy in order to be more personal and intimate and