The Pure Gold Baby Reading Guide

Page 1

The Pure Gold Baby by Margaret Drabble Reading Group Discussion ideas ‘What she felt for those children, as she was to realise some years later, was a proleptic tenderness’ This is the opening sentence of The Pure Gold Baby. ‘Prolepsis’ is not a commonly used word, with a very specific meaning: •

A narrative device in which an event is prefigured by a feeling, action or description

Where an event or situation is responded to prior to its occurrence

To what extent does the novel play with this idea of something that is both in the future and in the past? Is the idea of anticipating things that are not there a particularly maternal concern? Anna – the pure gold baby – has a very special relationship to the concept of time. Is this something the novel regards as a blessing or a curse for Anna herself and for those that care for her? Does prolepsis describe something we have all experienced at some point in our lives? As a technical device is it something you have noticed other writers use to foreshadow events in other novels, and can you think of specific examples you might like to discuss?

‘We lived in an innocent world. What did we mean by “innocence”, you may ask?’ The idea of innocence and purity is a major concern of the novel. Which characters do you regard as being ‘innocent’ and does this change as the novel develops? Equally, do you think the idea of innocence is also being discussed in relation to society as a whole at the time in which the novel is set? Has the world become less innocent since this novel’s setting? Does The Pure Gold Baby raise questions about individuals – or society as a whole – having lost their innocence? The idea of childhood and innocence is a central thematic concern of literature. To what extent do you think the loss of innocence – or its preservation – in childhood is a major concern of the novel? Do you think childhood innocence is eroded at a younger age in children now?


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.