Lawrence also uses military language when talking about the first appearance of
Mr. Brunt. “Rapid firing” Lawrence uses this to describe Mr. Brunt asking questions as he approaches Ursula. This expression makes him sound very intimidating, and gives the image of his questions being as ruthless and harsh as gun fire.
Other words Lawrence uses to describe the children, their actions towards Ursula and the way they make her feel are: “Hostile” “Torture” “Blades” “Suffering” “Squadron” “Ghastly”
All these words enhance the feeling of despair, and pain, they are all uncomfortable words, and create powerful images of pain. Some of these words are also linked to military ideas, and again create the image of the children being an enemy.
The majority of Lawrence’s sentences within this passage are short and abrupt. This increase the tension and therefore creates and sense of urgency, and makes the reader want to read on. This also helps the reader feel what Ursula is feeling, it makes the reader feel, tense and it also makes them feel an uncertainty of what is to come, this is the way that Ursula is feeling.
D.H Lawrence in this extract uses many different techniques to show the feelings or characters or convey ideas. One of the most obvious of these techniques is the use of repetition. The first thing he repeats is the idea of the children being a block, and he often refers to them as faceless, and he doesn’t talk about them as individuals, but says that they are one. This makes them more feared, as they seem like a wall or a faceless enemy. He uses phrases such as:
“they were a collective” “block of children” “they were her masters”
Theses phrases all make the children seem very intimidating, and put Ursula in a very unsafe, threatening environment. This makes us feel sympathy towards her.
Lawrence also uses the word “monotonous” to describe Ursula’s situation twice in two consecutive sentences. Doing this really makes an impact, as it forces the reader to feel the same monotony as Ursula is feeling, this creates a stronger bond between character and reader, as they share a similar feeling.
The biggest repetition in the passage is the word “inhumane”. Lawrence uses it four times in one paragraph, to describe Mr. Brunt’s voice, the number of children, the way she was feeling and finally, again the number of children. Using this same word to describe all these things adds to the feeling of monotony and despair.
Lawrence also talks about Mr. Brunt being a machine, this fits well with the idea of him being inhuman.
“Mr Brunt. Like a machine” “the man was become a mechanism”
The first quote above is also a simile, it shows that his way of teaching and his personality has dissolved and he has become this machine, which is unafraid and ready to teach.
D.H Lawrence’s writing is also very impersonal to his main character. Ursula is only mentioned by name once in the passage, the rest of the time she is referred to as ‘she’. This also gives her a sense of isolation; she is made to seem unworthy of mentioning compared to the children and Mr. Brunt who are referred to the same through out the passage. This gives a reader a sense that although the passage is about her and she is key to the story, that she is not as important, or significant as the other characters we meet on her journey.
