The South by Ruth Parks Analyzed in respect to Rites Of Passage, physical setting, style and the roles of the Characters

Formative 1

The Harp In The South By Ruth Parks

The novel The Harp In The South by Ruth Parks. It tells the story of the Darcy family, who live in poverty in 1940's Surry Hills, an inner-city slum suburb of Sydney. The style that Ruth Park writes is amazing. It's almost like tapestry: a collection of motley scratched scraps of wool that she interweaves together to create something heartbreakingly beautiful even though it is something that is quite ordinary up close. Her use of similes and metaphors shape the text, so that the responder can get a visual image in his/her head. Which sets the setting. Her deep descriptions which are so detailed (Blistered green door), that you feel what the characters are feeling (sick, sad, sympathetic ect.). This style of writing is unique and amazing. Even the structure is extremely detailed you can distinguish where each character lives work and spends most of there time.

Ruth Porter Mall Park (3)

Ruth Porter Mall Park

Ruth Park, pre 1947, by unknown photographer

Along with what they like, there attitudes and responsibilities. There values and attitudes are explained to the responder without them knowing. All of these main features are interweaved together to produce a text that is exciting, shocking and sad. Ruth Parks has done this extremely well to produce this amazing text.

Rites of passage reflects genre because Rites Of Passage refers to growing up and its experiences. Wile a part of the genre refers to Roies childhood experiences and life in general e.g. ...

Roie has to cope with the harsh realty of being impoverished, having limited employment opportunities and little chance of escaping Surry Hills. She 'cannot bear to see the deformed' and would walk a quarter of a mile out of her way to get away from it.

The physical setting is introduced through the use of similes...