- Champage-gold Granada
One of the areas you can talk about in ‘Parade’s End’ is the use of the car as a symbol for the family, their aspirations in life and potentially the area as a whole. These notes below are taken from 11×7 and 11y8’s interpretation and analysis of the poem.
“champagne-gold” – This could represent the wealth and celebration of wealth that the family wish to achieve. The changing of the colour of the car could hint at how the family is trying to integrate (fit in) with the community. It could also show that the dad is potentially trying to show off – at least, that’s how others may view it.
“car-skin pucker” – direct link between the car and the skin of the family.
“Then we swept away the bonnet-leaves from gold to the brown of our former colour.” – this links back to the opening stanza and the desire to change their colour, blend in with the community. However, here we sense their sadness at their aspirations being shattered.
‘Bonnet-leaves’ are being washed away as their dreams are also being swept away, returning to their origins. It could also represent the debris after this ‘battle’ being swept away: the conflict between the Indian family and the white community.
‘Former colour’ could represent more than one aspect. Firstly, it could be referring to the family and their skin colour, how they are trying to fit into the white community but are made to feel different yet again with the acid attack. Secondly, it could refer to the area as a whole. This family were trying to improve it, opening up a good shop and doing up their car, making improvements. However, the actions of the ‘pub-roar’ masses have dragged the area down again.
How does the poet uses the symbol of a car to present conflict? This could be an A/A* paragraph within your essay, as it could show varying, perceptive interpretations of the language used. Practice writing about the car as a symbol to include as a section in your assessment.
Collection B: Clashes and Collisions 