Moreover, contributing to the setting of the excerpt the reader has to consider whether the piece is contemporary or not. The reader can clearly tell that the passage is not contemporary as the exact date of the event is written in the title: Feet September 1948. There are other clues in the passage that the passage is not contemporary, as the mention of meningitis being a severe disease which was incurable is not true of today. In current times there is a vaccination for meningitis that all children receive as a requirement, thus the reader can see that the setting is not contemporary. Although the reader can infer that the setting is not in contemporary times, we can conclude that it is not too far back in the past as the narrator mentions his uncle’s construction worker boots. The reader can then deduce that some type of industrialization/construction is occurring, but there is still no vaccination for meningitis, thus the passage most likely takes place during the mid-20th century. The setting of the passage is in a home, as seen through the descriptions of the table, banister and stairs. Thus, the setting of the passage is during the mid-20th century in a house.
Furthermore, when looking at the characterization of the extract the reader can only identify one prominent character; the narrator. The passage is based on the narrator’s experience of his sister’s sickness and expected death. From this excerpt one can tell that the narrator is still very young as he compares his sister’s age (five), to his. This means that the narrator is older than five, but since he is comparing five to his age, he can not be much older than ten. The age of the narrator plays a significant role in his characterization as it can be seen that the narrator does not fully grasp the idea/concept of death. The narrator is obviously troubled by his beloved sister’s sickness as seen when he asks a series of rhetorical questions like “Wouldn’t she miss us? What could you do in heaven, except smile? She had a great smile” (lines 50-51). This description of Una’s (narrator’s sister) smile reflects the love that the narrator has for her, while the rhetorical questions show how the narrator is obviously distressed in seeing his sister on a stretcher. Although the narrator is obviously troubled, he constantly gets sidetracked by relatively unimportant occurrences, observations and thoughts. This shows the naivety and lack of understanding on the severity of death in spite of his love and concern for his sister. An example of how the narrator gets sidetracked is when he begins to describe various diseases and what they remind him of, as seen when he says “This was a new illness. I loved the names of the others - diphtheria, scarlet fever or scarlatina, rubella, polio, influenza; they made me think of Italian football players or racing drivers or opera singers” (lines 18-20). When the narrator equates these serious diseases to such relatively trivial things, it exemplifies his lack of understanding of death. Thus, the reader can infer that the narrator is still very young and does not understand the meaning and severity of death.
The tone of the passage is difficult to identify and comprehend as in such a serious situation the tone never slips into complete despair but maintains a little humor mixed with sadness/concern. Deane’s lack of understanding of the seriousness of his sister’s sickness and impending death plays into this tone as the sadness obviously stems from his concern, and his humor is an offspring of his naivety and innocence. The afore mentioned examples and characteristics of the narrator, in the previous paragraph, justify this tone as the it is a direct reflection of the characterization of the narrator, as it is a personal account written in the first person. There is a slight tone shift towards the end of the excerpt from taking a humorous approach to the situation to having the tone of seriousness. This tone shift occurs as the narrator realizes he will never see his sister again, and can be identified through the diction. In the last paragraph with the description of “…all the doors open and the autumn air darkening” (line 48), and in particular the adjective, darkening, contributes to the mournful/serious tone shift. Thus, the primary tone of the passage can be identified as being sad/concerned with a little humor, while the tone shifts to being mournful/serious through the narrator’s realization.
The mood of the passage can be first identified as grim. This can be recognized through the diction in the first paragraph when the narrator says that her dog “…Smoky, was whimpering; every time he quivered under his fur…” (lines 3-4). The adjectives used to describe how the dog is feeling create a grim mood as both whimpering and quivered are associated with something negative. The reader can immediately tell that something bad has happened, even though Una’s sickness has not even been mentioned yet. The mood remains the same but becomes more intense as the reader finds out about Una’s illness. The use of short, choppy sentences, as mentioned before, contributes to this intense grim mood as the reader find out that Una will die after she gets to the hospital. A mood shift occurs when the narrator diverts his attention to various types of sickness, and how they remind him of football players, racing drivers or opera singers. The mood that is created is quite comical as one does not usually equate such severe sicknesses to light matters such as football players. This creates a break in the passage as it provides the reader with some comic relief immediately after the knowledge of Una’s sickness and imminent death. The comical mood remains for a while as the narrator’s mind wanders through various observations and stories of his uncles. This mood changes again when “…everybody went out, and the room was empty” (lines 45-46), as it becomes dark, ominous and lonesome. The mention of the empty room triggers this shift as now the narrator is all alone in the house, under the table. This shift also occurs as the reader knows that Una will soon die, and the narrator will be alone in the sense that he has just lost his sister. The dark and ominous mood is also a result of the reader knowing that Una is soon to die of her illness. Thus, these mood shifts occur mostly due to the diction used for describing the narrator’s thoughts and feelings.
In the passage, irony is used as a way of inducing thought in the reader as he/she reads the passage. In the passage it is ironic that even though the narrator’s sister is about to die, he is still thinking about other things. Although this may be a mere reflection of the narrator’s innocence and lack of understanding of the situation, the irony still exists as the reader can deduce that the narrator has some degree of love for his sister, but lets his mind wander. Also related to this is the irony that even though the narrator is concerned about his sister, he chooses to hide from everyone and observe the situation from the outside, rather than participating in everyone’s grief. These ironies make the reader wonder whether it is the innocence of the narrator that prompts this odd inactivity and lack of shown grief, or that the narrator is somehow detached from his family and thus hides under the table. Another thought that comes to the reader is that the narrator might be hiding under the table in order to not face the reality of the situation as it is easier to just watch the movement of feet rather than being part of such a situation. This point of watching feet brings up the point of repetition. The narrator can only identify everyone by the shoes that they wear as that is all that he can see. The repetition of the images of the shoes emphasizes the importance of the title of the piece as the young boy only knows what is happening through the movement of people’s feet by judging them of the shoes that they are wearing. Deane emphasizes the importance of feet as he describes the characters through the shoes that they are wearing by their professions and social status. For example, the narrator says that “I recognized Uncle Manus’s brown shoes: the heels were worn down… Uncle Dan and Uncle Tom had identical shoes, heavy and rimed with mud and cement… Dan’s were dirtier… but they weren’t good shoes” (lines 30-34), which substantiates the point about how the narrator judges people on the shoes that they wear. This is significant as it prompts the narrator to indulge in various stories rather than thinking about his sister. It provides the basis of his characterization, as it shows his innocence and naivety. Thus, the irony produced as a result of the narrator’s characterization induces thought in the reader’s mind, while the repeated images provide emphasis of the title and prompts the narrator to deviate his thoughts from his sister.
In conclusion, the passage gives the dominant effect of showing the naivety and innocence of the narrator concerning the lack of understanding of death. This is achieved through the first person point of view, structure, and writing style which creates the basis of a personalized view of the narrator. Although the narrator knows what is happening, he does not understand how to react to it as he does not realize the seriousness of his sister’s imminent death. Due to this the narrator hides under the table and thinks about comical situations as a way of escaping the situation. This is also what creates the irony in the passage as the narrator’s concern for his sister is overshadowed by innocence.
