Creative Writing : Away

Authors Avatar

Away.

We don’t continue on as we are. We change and are forever changing “if we don’t change we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living” Gail Sheehy, suggests that for change to work efficiently we must learn from what has happened in the past. Change can be a positive force, we have the power to change to create world peace, and on the other hand change can be negative. Having to change your lifestyle after being paralysed in a car accident.

“I’m grown peaceful as old age tonight, I regret little, I would change still less” this quote by Robert Browning, emphasises the emotional circumstances of change through age. One who is happy with their lives and has accepted what they have done through their lives can persist to live with satisfaction and pride. It is important to recognize and acknowledge that whenever change occurs, whether it is good or bad, it is very important to earn how to deal with it. Similar to suffering, change is inevitable. If in suffering it must not be avoided it should be approached in a positive way and consequently may yield rewards.  

One technique Gow uses to show that the characters in Away do change is the use of symbols. A character that experiences the most profound change is Gwen. Gwen is a character who is extremely materialistic, self-obsessed and narrow-minded. Evidence of Change begins to occur in her life after a storm throws her world of complete order and control into chaos. She becomes emotional insecure. Nature is a factor she is unable to control. Nature is an unpredictable occurrence, which she is unable to prepare herself for. Gwen becomes trapped in her own emotional prison and once taken away from the possessions that dominate her life like the stove and the keys which had previously, had caused uproars in her life, she is able to examine herself. Gwen is resistant to change. She undergoes immense change after hearing about Vic’s son, recognising that he faces death at such a young age and that his parents face loosing their only child. This realisation gives Gwen the strength to change and apologise to Jim, admitting that she had been unfair and judgemental, in her attitudes toward other people, especially migrants, people with less wealth and artists. Gwen needs to apologise for constantly complaining and making a big deal out of every situation. For example the play, in which meg had performed, Gwen was the first to criticise as she quotes “what did u have to do Shakespeare for?” she dragged the conversation, placing her disapproving upon the whole play .Her apologies towards Jim are necessary after Jim asks for his keys at the play, causing Gwen’s temper reaches fever pitch, making a scene as she trows her belongings around. Gwen is unable to continue as she was. She is in need of change in her life, as George Bernard Shaw once said, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything”. Through the intensity of emotional conflict, which she encounters, Gwen has had to acknowledge the inevitability of change in life. The lives of Jim, Meg and Gwen are undergoing enormous change, arguing against the point that we continue on are we are unchanged and unchanging. The storm acts as a metaphor for the emotional conflict they are experiencing and subsequently the experience their lives change from.

Join now!

Coral is at the other end of the spectrum to Gwen in terms of values and approach to life and yet she undergoes a change just as profound. A fundamental difference that Coral displays is her lack of concern with the material world. When Roy exhorts her to “ come back to reality” she replies “she might not like it there”. Coral’s change includes facing the loss of her identity. Coral’s whole existence is suffused with the sadness with the loss of her son. Roy is infuriated and embarrassed by her unusual manner when she is in public but his ...

This is a preview of the whole essay