Q) How does Bernard MacLaverty use analepsis to memorable effect?
A) Bernard MacLaverty’s “Secrets” is a coming of age story encapsulating the anecdote of an anonymous protagonist who uncovers his Aunt’s secrets, altering their relationship forever. With significant help of analepsis, the writer not only portrays the relationship he had with his aunt but also accentuates the primary themes of the story.
MacLaverty makes analepsis a major component of the story; most of the story is a reflection at the past. In the scene of the Aunt’s death in the present, her appearance is described as dreadfully frail and miserable —“her white hair was damped”, “her face seemed to have shrunk by half” and “the lower half of her face seemed to collapse”. However, in the flashback the narrator claims “her skin (was) fresh, her hair [was] white and waved and always well washed”. Similarly, there is a reference to vase of irises in the flashback which, in contrast, is dying in the present. Not only are these flowers a symbol of the Aunt’s physical state but also denote how the writer has used the analepsis to make the past and the present juxtaposed to each other, signifying the disparity in the relationship between the aunt and the child in the past and in the present.
The flashback is a retrospection of the Adult protagonist and it succeeds the scene of the present in the story rather than appearing before the present and following an ascending timeline. This signifies the guilt that the protagonist is engulfed by, such that he remembers his actions years later. The vivid details and precise narration help augment this effect.
Analepsis is entirely responsible for accentuating the eminent themes in the story. The theme of curiosity is prevalent in the flashback, from the time the protagonist excessively asked questions about his Aunt’s ring and inquired about Brother Benignus to the time when he overlooked his Aunt’s order and read the letters he was not supposed to. The theme of innocence is highlighted by his inquisitive behaviour in the flashback and it is emphasized on in the scene where he reads the letters, exposing him to the brutality of war and the intimacy of love, things a young boy is not usually aware about.
Furthermore, the theme of struggle is underlined through the graphic details that John shares about the war and his feelings — “today a man died beside me”, “I must sacrifice something to make up for the horror of the past year”, “I have lost all sense of feeling”. Struggle is also indicated by the Aunt’s secrecy about John, signifying that she struggles to cope with the loss of him, and suppressing her emotions are the only way she can subdue the trauma. The analepsis significantly helps bring about the theme of betrayal. The aunt warns him — “Do-not-touch”— yet the boy reads her letters. This treachery upsets the Aunt to such an extent that it alters their relationship forever. She even says “I shall remember this till the day I die”, and she keeps up to her word. Hence, without the analepsis the major themes of “Secrets” would not have been highlighted so powerfully.
The most significant use of the analepsis, however, is to create a stark contrast between the relationship between the protagonist and his Aunt in the flashback and in the present. She would “read to him as a child” and they shared a deep bond by sharing stories with each other. However, the treachery was so unforgivable that she did not forgive or even mention the boy before she died. The aunt’s physical health and the irises are all symbols of the relationship of the protagonist with his aunt; it was in full blossom at one stage in the past, but in the beginning you see it wither just like the irises and die just like Aunt Mary.
prepIGCSE 