Begging and Greta
Beggarland
B1
The short story ‘BeggarLand’ by Alan Sillitoe (1998) is about a woman named Jane, who is a writer. She lives in a big house with her husband, Tim, and her two children, Ben and Angela. Both Tim and Jane work a lot. They hire a new au pair to look after the children. The new au pair is an ugly, non-stylish 18-year-old girl from the North named Greta. Greta is very good with the children and they bond nearly right away. Soon after Greta and the children come home from a short trip to the South Bank, the children want to play beggars in the garden. At first Jane is against it, but as long as they are occupied it doesn’t really matter. One day when Jane goes to the London library to get some information for her book, she sees Greta, Ben and Angela begging for money to get money for a trip to Southend. When Jane calms down and goes home, she confronts Greta, but doesn’t fire her.
B2 - characterisation
Jane and Tim are married and live together with their two children Ben and Angela. Jane is a writer, and she hires an au pair named Greta to watch the children, while she works. Tim doesn’t really care what’s going on. Greta is from the north and takes good care of the children. Although she isn’t familiar with the surrounding area, she looks at maps to see where she can take the children, when the mother (Jane) wants some peace and quiet. Greta is not a good looking woman, she has yellowish hair and she doesn’t have any good taste in clothing, she is 18 but she could go for being 20 to 30 years old because of her looks. This makes Jane comfortable, that Greta is so far from being a sex appealing object for Jane’s husband Tim. Tim is Jane’ husband and he just got a new job, so he’s never really home.
B3 – comment on the conflict
The conflict starts when Jane sees Greta, Ben and Angela begging for money in the train station. This is way over the line for Jane and she’s thinking that she want to kill Greta for doing that to her. And it’s probably
B1
The short story ‘BeggarLand’ by Alan Sillitoe (1998) is about a woman named Jane, who is a writer. She lives in a big house with her husband, Tim, and her two children, Ben and Angela. Both Tim and Jane work a lot. They hire a new au pair to look after the children. The new au pair is an ugly, non-stylish 18-year-old girl from the North named Greta. Greta is very good with the children and they bond nearly right away. Soon after Greta and the children come home from a short trip to the South Bank, the children want to play beggars in the garden. At first Jane is against it, but as long as they are occupied it doesn’t really matter. One day when Jane goes to the London library to get some information for her book, she sees Greta, Ben and Angela begging for money to get money for a trip to Southend. When Jane calms down and goes home, she confronts Greta, but doesn’t fire her.
B2 - characterisation
Jane and Tim are married and live together with their two children Ben and Angela. Jane is a writer, and she hires an au pair named Greta to watch the children, while she works. Tim doesn’t really care what’s going on. Greta is from the north and takes good care of the children. Although she isn’t familiar with the surrounding area, she looks at maps to see where she can take the children, when the mother (Jane) wants some peace and quiet. Greta is not a good looking woman, she has yellowish hair and she doesn’t have any good taste in clothing, she is 18 but she could go for being 20 to 30 years old because of her looks. This makes Jane comfortable, that Greta is so far from being a sex appealing object for Jane’s husband Tim. Tim is Jane’ husband and he just got a new job, so he’s never really home.
B3 – comment on the conflict
The conflict starts when Jane sees Greta, Ben and Angela begging for money in the train station. This is way over the line for Jane and she’s thinking that she want to kill Greta for doing that to her. And it’s probably