The first sentence manages to give us the continuous rhythm of the tramcar and a sense of boredom. Once the tramcar stops however there is a sense of change. The colours change and we are told that the tramcars are green and creamy coloured and that when they stop, they “purr with curious satisfaction” using the simile of a cat. The next sentence begins with a conjunction giving a sense of urgency for he “adventure ahead.” Lawrence uses the word, “again”, to begin the next sentence and repeats the word four times in as many sentences giving a feeling of repetition and monotony and yet, the rest of the language shows a definite change, “Away it starts once more on the adventure.” Lawrence begins to use the word like,” reckless swoops”, “bouncing the loops”, “ breathless slithering” and “precipitous drop”. In a strange personification the tram car is now referred to as the patient and the continuous journey continues. The gas works are described as fat whereas the factories are narrow and suddenly a human presence is introduced. We are in the,”sordid street”. We are now the people who are travelling on this vehicle and on our return to, “ our terminus”. The language is once again brighter,” But still perky, jaunty somewhat dare-devil”. He finishes this paragraph with an oxymoron describing a “jaunty sprig of parsley out of a block colliery garden”. The first paragraph sets the atmosphere for what is to follow. The life of John Thomas is very boring and simple. He collects tickets on tramcars, which is a continuous uninteresting procedure. His life is similar to the sad decline of village, the pollution, the women’s houses and the continuous challenged tramline. However there are some interesting parts of his life, the girls at the depot with whom he often went home with after work. This would be the only satisfaction in his life, the “parsley out of a black colliery garden.”
He also has an air of mystery just like the tramcar in that he does not really know where he comes from or what his life is like similarly and just like John Thomas we know what the journey is but we don’t know where the journey is going.
The second paragraph tells the reader, “to ride on these cars is always an adventure” and once again this parallels John Thomas’ life. When he has a liaison with the ticket girls it is an adventure and he knows the dangers involved. The author describes the male workers as “men unfit for active service: cripples and hunchbacks.” John Thomas is not physically similar to any of these people, but he represents them morally, this creates a negative atmosphere.
The author is also informing the reader that the tramcar is very dangerous and can often “leaps the rails,” but the people think, “… what the matter”. This relates to John Thomas’ actions towards the girls he goes out with. He very often gets the girls he works with pregnant and he still doesn’t care because he goes and does it again.
The reader is told that the people on the tramcar are not bothered about the potential danger there is and they only realize it when the accident happens, “ ‘Get on - get on! We’re not coming out’ …so till flames actually appear.” A threatening atmosphere is created. This relates to the situation John Thomas is repeatedly in, he sleeps with many girls and doesn’t realize the fact he could get a girl pregnant, he only notices the danger when the girls do get pregnant but he still does not care.
The third paragraph informs the reader “…the nights are howling cold, black, and windswept.” There is an aspect of evil and this creates an unpleasant and negative atmosphere. This is comparable to the inhumane action of the girls when they attacked John Thomas savagely. After the attack the girls cold heartedly carried on normally as if nothing had happened, showing no emotion.
The author says that the “…miners travel, for a change of cinema, of girl, of pub.” The reader is made aware of the changing atmosphere. This can be linked to the way John Thomas changes girls as if they are old property, as if they are just a normal habit.
The first three paragraphs of ‘Tickets Please’ have created an atmosphere of decline and darkness. D.H Lawrence has ended the third paragraph by saying, “Trams that pass in the night.” This is a modification of the real saying, “Ships that pass in the night.” This means that someone has touched another person so much and then they just pass by and leave. Whereas trams have been referred to very negatively throughout the first three paragraphs. Therefore “Trams that pass in the night” would mean that someone so horrible and unpleasant has ruined your life, and left you in a mess without any help. This is similar to the actions of John Thomas, he got girls pregnant and just left them in their own mess.
