Girl, Women, Other
Girl, Women, Other
| Quote | explanation / function |
|---|---|
| „let us wonder, Carole, at the genius of hyperbolic geometry, where the sum of the angles adds up to less than 180 degrees” (p. 121); „how she loved memorizing the quadratic equation, when her classmates didn’t even know what it is” (p. 122); (p. 126) | She does the „impossible” → showing that she’s very smart and her interest in math |
| „at least her addiction to the electronic motherboard is productive” (p. 114) | shows her interests in her job |
| „feeling too uglystupidfatpoor or just plain out of place, out of sorts, out of her depth” (p. 132) | feeling unwell |
| „being gang-banged at thirteen and a half” (p. 132) | being raped (trauma, trust issues, fear) |
| „she had made friends and even got herself a new boyfriend, Marcus” (p. 135), „Carole has only had two boyfriends, Marcus and Freddy” (p. 147) | having a boyfriend |
| „Carole knows what it’s like to appear normal but feel herself swaying” (p. 114) | she hides her problems |
| „these days, however, she feels very much alive, very much ‘looking forward’ as they say at work” | optimistic, making improvements of the situation |
| „in her perfectly-tailored city clothes, the balletic slope of her shoulders, straightened hair scraped into a martial topknot, eyebrows plucked calligraphic flair, her discreet, no-nonsense jewellery of platinum and pearls” | elegantly / perfectly dressed |
| „she met Freddy at a party” (p. 147) | going on parties |
| „yes to his romantic hand-holding and all-round good manners” (p. 148) | likes being romantic and having good manners |
| „yes to his intelligence, conversational skills and easy-going personality” (p. 148) | she likes smart and simple people |
| „Carole loves dancing like a warrior queen to frenzied beats of the war-painted godfather, Fela Kuti” (p. 141) | she likes dancing, fan of Fela Kuti (musician) |
| „she recently became a Vice President, one of several hundred in this bank, as opposed to the thousands in others” (p. 144) | she is really good as a financial executive |
Characterization
Carole is the protagonist of the first section in Chapter 2 of the novel „Girl, Woman, Other”. Carole can be described as a smart, optimistic and romantic person who loves her job as a financial executive. She likes dancing and going on parties.
Carole is an intelligent person, what can be explained by taking a look at her hobbies and interests. At a young age already, she has interest in math and loves knowing things which her classmates do not unterstand. One evidence can be found in page 122 „how she loved memorizing the quadratic equation, when her classmates didn’t even know what it is”. In addition her job as a financial executive and later then vice president of a bank connects to her interest in math. The promotions make clear, that she is really good at what she is doing (p. 144). Carole likes to be romantic what one can see by her boyfriend Freddy, who is also romantic, intelligent (p. 148). Regarding to the location where she first met her boyfriend Freddy and her love to dancing, it shows that she likes to go on parties (p. 147). On the other side of her personality, being raped at an age of 13 causes trust issues, fear and trauma (p. 132). Besides she hides her problems by acting normal but feeling herself swaying (p. 114). In addition she feels unwell, out of place and out of her depth (p. 132). But she is optimistic and makes improvements of the situation „these days, however, she feels very much more alive, very much ‘looking forward’ […]”.
There would be a conclusion in the end.