SUMMARY
Enoch is an eight-year-old boy, the only son of Jack and
Edna, although we don’t know for sure that Jack is his biological father.
It seems that Enoch is a good boy: he goes to school,
he has friends, he behaves well, that is, he does the normal things for a lad
of his age, and he’s a bit afraid of his father’s authority.
The Boden family appears to be a happy family, or at
least a peaceful family that stays together. But almost at the beginning of the
story, we find out that things aren’t what they seem, because Jack is going to
leave his wife and home, and, on the very same day, his wife is going to do the
same. However, neither of them knows anything at all about their partner’s
plans. Jack is running away with his lover, a workmate, and Edna is fed up with
her married life.
When Enoch comes home after school, he doesn’t find
anybody there; but he isn’t very worried because he thinks they are just getting
late. He imagines that his mother is paying a visit to a friend or relative,
and that his father has had an accident at the foundry where he works and that maybe
he’s dead. But not even this worries Enoch too much.
The boy decides to make the most of the situation
while waiting for them. He has something to eat, watches television, sits in
his father’s armchair… As it gets dark and nobody appears, he decides to go to
bed in the living room, on the sofa, in front of the stove and watching TV. And
for blanket he uses a carpet.
The next morning, since neither his mother nor his
father has come back home, he resolves to go to his grandmother’s to tell her what
has happened. There, he finally loses his courage and determination (or his
indifference) and cries.
His grandma and he returns to Enoch’s to try to
understand what has happened to his parents, and there the boy finds, lying on
the rug in the hall, the two letters his parents had written for him.
QUESTIONS
-According to you, how true is love at first sight?
Can you tell us any example that confirms your opinion?
-In the house, the clock is turned against the wall.
The mother turns it to see the time, and the boy to wind it? For you, what can
be the meaning of a clock facing the wall?
-The story happens in early spring. In your opinion,
what would be the best tome of the year to change your life?
-Both parents take two suitcases to make their escape.
What would you take in a similar case (hypothetically)?
-Do children, teenagers… have different feelings about
death, illness, divorce than adults?
Why do you think so?
VOCABULARY
scullery, foundry, stint, mantelshelf, tackling, for good, settee,
moulds, wind, torch, swivel, pumice, fare, mangle, upper/bottom deck, nowt