THE QUESTION
How do you respond to Aunty Jean in
the novel Martyn Pig?
Write about:
what you think about Aunty Jean
from what she says and does
what other characters say about
her
the methods the writer uses to
present Aunty Jean.
Aunty Jean
“A terrible woman. Think
of the worst person you
know , then double it, and
you’ll be halfway to
Aunty Jean. I can hardly
bear to describe her, to
tell you the truth.”
Time for some
detective work of
our own…
1. When do we
see Aunty Jean?
2. How do we view
Aunty Jean?
Positive
Negative
How we feel…
Wednesday
Page …………
Friday
Page …………
Epilogue
Page ………….
How others feel…
How she is presented…
THE PLAN
1. Start with Wednesday.
How is Aunty Jean presented in Wednesday? How do we feel about her?
2.We first meet Aunty Jean on Friday.
How is Aunty Jean presented in Friday? How do we feel about her?
3. Aunty Jean comes to get Martyn from the station what does that us
about her? How do we feel about her now?
4. Look at the epilogue. How is she presented here?
How do we feel about her? How does Martyn feel about her?
REMEMBER:
WORTH 30 MARKS
ANSWER the question
Use PEA
Refer back to the question
Offer your own ideas/interpretations
Brooks’ use of language informs us from the onset that
Martyn dislikes Aunty Jean. Aunty Jean is first
presented to us as ‘That Bloody woman’ the expletive
‘bloody’ tells us straight away that William Pig believes
she is a nuisance and an inconvenience in his life. His
views of Aunty Jean are passed on to Martyn as he
shares the same belief as his father mirroring his
father’s ideas with the repetition of ‘That Bloody
Woman was Aunty Jean’. We do not meet Aunty Jean
until later into the novel however she is described to us
at the onset in a negative way.
Martyn uses a consecutive list of negative adjectives to describe
Aunty Jean to us ‘bloody’, ‘terrible’, ‘angular’, ‘cold’, ‘hard’, ‘ugly’,
‘furious’. All of these adjectives tell us that she is not a nice woman
and actually that she is the antithesis of the person we associate with
the name ‘aunty’. Aunty usually suggests kind and caring however
Martyn’s experience of his aunty is that she is ‘cold’ and ‘hard’. The
use of the adjectives ‘angular’, ‘cold’ and ‘hard’ imply that she is a
woman who lacks warmth and understanding. They also suggest that
she is inflexible and will not tolerate fools such as William Pig.
Martyn focuses on her physical description by mocking her hair “with
crispy blue hair” which suggests that she is a figure of fun for him and
his Dad. He also focuses on her mouth the metaphor “Her mouth is
thin and pillar-box red” implies that she has too much to say and this is
why both William and Martyn dislike her; maybe she has too much to
say about their lifestyle.
The use of red could also imply that Aunty Jean poses
some sort of danger to Martyn. The fact that Aunty
Jean is so vile that she makes Martyn “shudder”
suggests that her presence alone is enough to cause a
physical reaction for Martyn. The idea that Martyn
used to have “nightmares about her” further reinforces
that she is something to be feared. The final simile
“She moves like a huntress, quick and quiet, homing in on
her prey” further implies that she is relentless in her
pursuit of both Martyn and William. It is interesting to
note that Martyn considers himself to be her “prey” yet
as reader’s we do not see her as a threat to Martyn at
all. In fact Brooks’ almost paints a caricature of Aunty
Jean not dissimilar to the evil stepmother in a Disney
fairy tale.
It is important to note that we only ever see the character of Aunty Jean
through the eyes of both Martyn and William. As a result Aunty Jean is
shaped by their opinions, however Brooks does hint at the idea that Aunty
Jean may in fact be a positive force in Martyn’s life. When she arrives for her
annual visit we see the contrast between Martyn’s description and Brooks’
presentation of her. Aunty Jean’s arrival is signalled when Martyn describes
her as “stiff, upright, scowling on the step as if she’d been waiting there for a
thousand years” the use of this description further reinforces her presence as
a Disneyesque character of mythical proportions this is further supported
when Martyn describes her as a “blue-haired, bow-legged dragon-lady”. The
use of similes to compare Aunty Jean to an animal is apparent throughout this
section as Martyn refers to her as “snorting” complete with “flared nostrils
and a curled upper lip” whom he follows “like some sort of weird offspring
following its mother”. This may be Brooks’ way of hinting at Aunty Jean’s
motherly nature as Martyn despite his explicit feelings towards her feels
inclined to follow.
The personification of the “doorbell” “sounded terrified” suggests that Aunty
Jean’s presence permeates throughout the house. The use of the pathetic
fallacy indicates that Aunty Jean could be a positive influence; this is the first
time that the sun has shone since the start of the novel.
It is imperative to note that this is the only time the
sun shines until the epilogue when Martyn is
permanently resident at Aunty Jean’s house. “It was a
beautiful day. Cloudless blue skies”.
Ultimately we see Aunty Jean through the eyes of both
William and Martyn and our view of her is tainted by
their experiences. Brooks on the other hand presents
us with Aunty Jean in a much more positive light. In
fact Aunty Jean is the only one who truly cares for
Martyn. When he is at the police station or in trouble
and the rest of the world has abandoned him it is “that
bloody woman” who rescues him.