My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 1
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
Sean
Not sure
Sees
Father
Deeply worried
His concerns
NOW in Essay
Essay theme
Abortion
Liz Pregnant
Meeting
Liz
Dumped
Liz
Plans Future
California UCLA
Flat
Pregnant
Alone
No longer wants
Child
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 2
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
Examples that Liz does not see this coming:i. The scene P. 25
Sean tries to have sex but Liz refuses.
He gets angry when she refuses
He tells her she should be on the Pill
She calls him a “pain in the ass”.
i. Consequence:- P. 72
Liz is the one
who Maggie
believes can see
everything.
Sean splits from her
Liz writes to him to ask him to take her
back
Their first meeting afterwards they have
sex
It is Liz that instigates the sex
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 3
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
What does Liz SEE and NOT SEE
i. Does not realise that initially Sean only wants sex. P. 25
ii. Does not consider Rod a threat.
iii. Even when Maggie sees her and Rod together, and Rod has
her against the wall she sees no threat. Did not see the attempted
rape coming. P. 66ff
iv. Does not see what is going on in Sean’s head when she tells
him she is pregnant…..Why the father talk…….We only hear
about this from Liz P. 88
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 4
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
Sean’s View of the relationship and Abortion:- P. 112-116
Sean’s Essay:- The Circus of Blackness
i. The reason he backed out was because of the influence of
others, in particular his father.
[Clown] P. 113
ii. It was also forced on him because of the views of society in
general. What people think etc. [Crowd] P. 112/3
iii. Under this pressure he and Liz together decide to plead with
the crowd that the child is allowed to live.
[Wooden box raised towards the heavens] P. 115
iv.When the child is killed and the crowd scream their delight and
agreement the boy and girl are crying. P. 116
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 5
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
Sean’s View of the relationship and Abortion:- Reality
i. The fact that Sean goes to see his father proves that he already
has doubts about marriage. Maybe he wants his father to talk him
out of it. P. 90-94
ii. He agrees with his father that he has not dated many girls and
should not be forced into an early marriage. P. 99
iii. If he left Liz, he knew there would be other girls who would
want him. P. 99
iv. Was he really to marry her and stop his life? P. 100
v. He has decided to pay for Liz to have an abortion. P. 101
vi. It is only when Liz talks about the baby’s name that Sean is
forced to tell her that he is not marrying her. P. 101
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 6
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
vii. It is only when Liz screams at him “What do you think I am?
Some kind of whore?” that he makes any major reply to her.
“To hear you talk you’d think I was the only one to blame. You
had nothing to do with it!” He blames Liz for it. P. 101
a. In his story Sean wants it to be thought that he was forced to
back out of the wedding etc. because of pressure.
b. In his story Sean wants it to be thought that he was reluctant to
go through with it and pleaded that it did not happen.
c. The truth is that although influenced by his father etc. he is in
agreement with the idea of backing out.
d. The fact he writes the story shows that he is not perfectly
contented with what he has done.
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 7
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
Maggie and seeing what is there:i. At the beginning of the story she believes that Liz is more
observant than her. P. 9
ii. When Maggie sees Rod with Liz she is concerned. She knows
what he is like and asks if Liz is ok. P. 66
iii. When she breaks up with Dennis she is well aware of what he
is thinking. She also realises why she is feeling the way she is.
P. 96 + 98
iv. When she accompanies Liz to get the abortion she does not
trust Rod. She memorises the doctors address so she can get the
police onto him if something goes wrong. P. 107
v. She knows Liz will die if she does not get help and so defies her
instructions and get help for her. P. 111
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 8
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
At the end of the novel, during graduation, she analyses life and
what it means. She remembers the old saying: “Something old,
something new, something borrowed, something blue”. She
can put meaning to each notion as it reflects her life:i. Something Old:- The angel
ii. Something New:- The
on the ceiling smiling and
shame she now feels that Liz
looking down at her. P. 123
will no longer speak to her
because she went for help.
P. 122
iii. Something Borrowed:- The iv. Something Blue:- The
same old speeches that people
sadness she feels about the
make at events like graduation
way things turned out with
which have no meaning. P. 122
Dennis and Liz. P. 121
My Darling, My Hamburger
Slide 9
Qn:- “Always looking and only seeing part of what is there.” In what
way does that sum up characters in the novel….
Answer Outline
Section 1:- Name of Novel and writer.
Section 2:- Brief outline of the story.
Section 3.:- How Liz is not able to see what is really there.
Section 4:- How Sean tries to fool himself about what really happened.
Section 5:- Link paragraph to point out that not all characters are blind.
Section 6:- How Maggie really sees what is going on.
Section 7:- Conclusion and answer to the question.