Going Places

Ø  Characters:

Sophie

Jansie

Geoff

Derek

Parents of Jansie

Danny Casey

Tom Finney

Ø  Themes:

1.       Adolescent Fantasies:

The lesson explores the theme of adolescent fantasies. Sophie and Jansie are two good friends studying in the last year of high school. They belong to a working class family. It is true that a life without dreams is rather dead but life that is divorced from reality is equally harmful. An inability to differentiate between what is real and what is mere fantasy is insanity. Young children often pass through a phase of role playing and fantasizing, but then they soon grow out of it. But the protagonist of the story Sophie gets so pulled into the story she weaves that she herself begins to believe that it’s true.

She is a day dreamer who wants to own a boutique. To get money for fulfilling this dream, she dreams further. She tells her friend Jansie, that she would become a manager or else an actress or a designer. If she would become an actress, she could still have her boutique on the side.  She very often talks about her fantasies which no one in her family believes. So, in order to get her family member’s attention, specially of her elder brother Geoff’s she tells that she met the Irish football player Danny Casey. When he refused to believe her she gives him details of the celebrity.

She even tells her brother Geoff that Danny Casey had promised to meet her again. It was a kind of ‘date’. She wishes that Geoff would believe her. She said it because she wanted to be a part of his grown up world. She imagines him to be going too far off places and have exotic friends. She dreams about riding into his world behind Geoff. All these reiterate the fact that Sophie was a dreamer living in her world of fantasies. Her refuge in the world of dream and fantasy might become a trap for her from which she will find no escape.

(In many ways, one can’t help pitying Sophie for becoming what she is, a person who will spin tales in order to gain the attention of her father and her brother Geoff, whom she admires. Sophie cooks the story of having met Danny Cassey probably in order to draw Geoff’s attention away from the motorcycle parts with which he was tinkering. He is the only one who sympathizes with her; although he knows that she has a tendency for inventing tall tales. Sophie is very much like Mademoiselle Loiselle in the short story, ‘The Necklace’ by Guy De Maupassant whose dreams for a better life ultimately leads her and her husband into destitution! Borrowing what she thought was a diamond necklace from her friend proves to be her undoing! Sophie too is like Mademoiselle Loiselle. She is however like a bird trapped in the cage of poverty, and she wants to spread her wings to fly and explore the world that had been denied to her because of her economic circumstances! With Sophie however, we don’t get to see things deteriorating as badly as they did for Madame Loiselle, although looking at how things are progressing we can only guess that her daydreaming could lead to great distress! Sophie’s father is aware about how things could work out for Sophie when he warns her that, “One of these days you’re going to talk yourself into a load of trouble”. Instead of the word, “talk” replace it with day dreaming, and obsession for a more fantastic life. For Sophie, the obsession for a better life coupled with her tendency to day dream and fantasize a lot are sure signs of a mental malady that could cause her great harm in the long run! )

2.       Hero Worship:     

She fantasized about Danny Casey and dreamt about her brother’s grown up world. She finds a sort of fascination for her elder brother Geoff, who, in her opinion, is tall, strong and handsome but reserved. She envies his silence and often wonders about his thoughts and areas of his life that she doesn't know about Sophie fantasises about Danny Casey, an Irish football player, whom she had seen playing in innumerable matches. She makes up a story about how she met him in the streets and tells this to Geoff to impress him. She tells him that Danny has promised to meet her somewhere again.

Sophie gets so pulled into the story she weaves that she herself begins to believe that it’s true. She waits for the Irish player, but obviously, he never arrives. Then, she makes her way home, wondering how her brother would be disappointed on knowing that Danny Casey never showed up. However, Sophie still continues with her fantasises about her hero.

Ø  The differences between Sophie and Jansie that showed up in the story:

Sophie was imaginative, day dreamer and lived in the world of fantasy. She harbours unrealistic dreams. She thinks of having a boutique. She wants to have the most amazing shop this city has ever seen. Then she entertains the idea of being an actress as there was real money in it. She was an escapist and good at fabricating stories. Unlike her, her friend Jansie was mature, sensible and realistic. She was practical enough to understand their financial situation being daughters of two middle class families. She was in stark contrast to Sophie’s character. Instead of daydreaming, as a well-wisher of Sophie, she tried to dissuade her from living in the world of fantasy. She said they were earmarked for the biscuit factory. She, in contrast to Sophie, did not nurture big dreams and accepted her reality.

We find her as a gossip monger by the half way through the story when she tries to find out the story between Sophie and Denny Casey.

Ø  Contrast between Sophie’s real world and her dreams:

Being a young school girl, Sophie loves to dwell in her realm of dreams. Most of her dreams are beyond her reach. Her ambitions have no relation with the harsh realities of life. She thinks of having a boutique. She wants to have the most amazing shop this city has ever seen. Then she entertains the idea of being an actress as there was real money in it. If need be, she can be a fashion designer. She does not realise that her family is not rich enough and her dreams cannot be fulfilled. She strongly felt that there was a whole new world waiting for her and that she was tailor made for it.

Sophie develops a romantic fascination for Danny Casey. He is a young Irish football player and the hero of her dreams. She indulges in hero worship. She tells a story that she met Casey. Her father calls it another of her ‘wild stories’. Even Geoff does not believe her. He tries to restraint her as Casey is a celebrity and have a great female fan following.

But Sophie is an incurable dreamer. She has seen Casey only once, but all the time she thinks of him. She sits alone and waits for his arrival. She becomes sad and despondent when Casey does not come. She suffers because of her dreams. These dreams and disappointment are all creations of her mind.

Ø  Character sketches:

1.       Sophie’s father:

-Hardworking (his appearance when Sophie came home).

-Wanted to provide better facilities for the family (he asks Sophie to buy a decent house if she gets some money).

-Practical as he did not encourage Sophie by believing her wild stories.

-Did not indulge in self-pity.

-Contented with his socio-economic position.

Detail: He is the sole bread earner of the family. He works in a biscuit factory struggling hard to make both ends meet.  Sophie’s father is a hardworking man who toils the whole day to make his family comfortable, however he does not indulge in self –pity nor does he blame his circumstances. His face is filthy and sweaty after the day’s hard work. He is a practical man who frowns upon Sophie’s flights of fantasy and insensitive towards her daughter’s dreams. When Geoff told him about Sophie’s meeting with Danny Casey, he dismisses as one of her ‘wild stories’. Sophie is somewhat scared of him and does not want any of her stories to reach him. However, there is a lighter side to him. He is a sports enthusiast, he loves watching football. Watching United each Saturday was like a weekly pilgrimage for him. He also cheered for Danny Casey and even celebrated his victory in a pub.

Ø  Title : Going Places

‘Going Places’ is an idiomatic phrase which means to become very successful, especially in one’s career. The title is appropriate as Sophie the protagonist- a teenager fantasizes and goes to places in her imagination in the story and Geoff’s ‘areas of his life’ which unknown to her holds a special fascination for her about which she romanticizes.

The whole story is about unrealistic dreams and how we love to indulge in them knowing all the while that they have little possibility of coming true. But some, like Sophie, gets too involved in them and actually act on them. This is when disappointment makes its entrance into life. The story seems to hint at you that it is okay to dream, but dream with limits. This is actual reality and do not believe too much in movies and novels where the characters miraculously overcome their challenges. This is a pessimistic way of looking at things, but sadly it is the true reality. Unless you are impossibly ambitious, hardworking, and have loads of patience and perseverance, such dreams are best to be kept under lock and key unless you like the taste of bitter disappointment.