The Student Room Group

Michael Frayn- spies

I know its already been done but i really cant find anything specific about what i need n atm im ready to burn my book lol

im writing an essay atm but im having a lot of trouble cause i dont seem to be able to find much...

"how is the relationship between the characters of keith and stephen presented in chapter 2 and what is its significance"

all i can find is the obvious, stephen feels inferior to keith and is the follower in the relationship, and the only significance is that it shows how one person perceives things can have an affect on other people..being that stephen felt inferior but in reality he wasnt..which led to him allowing keith to tell him what to do etc and finally resulting in the destruction of other peoples lives..

awful i know!

please help me!

xx
Reply 1
It's not awful at all - you've got a good start there. But before you start answering any question you always have to break it down into sections.

In this question, I think there are two sections:
"How is the relationship between Keith and Stephen presented in chapter 2?"
"What is its significance?"

So you've got your basic structure for your essay right there. The first half of it, you'll concentrate on the first section, and how the relationship between them is presented in chapter 2. You've already started that in your OP above - just fill it in with a few quotations and a few analyses and you've got it.

The second half of the essay, you'll concentrate on the second section - "what is its significance?" Well, what is the significance of the way their relationship is presented in Chapter 2? You could say that their relationship is presented in this way at the beginning of the book, but by the end, it's very different. By the end of the novel, Stephen has moved away from Keith - he's matured far beyond Keith's capability. The presentation of their relationship in Chapter 2 is therefore significant because it provides contrast with their relationship at the end.

Keith also bullies Stephen in a most horrifying way in Chapter 10 - he holds the bayonet to Stephen's throat. You could look for little incidences of bullying in Chapter 2 (I can't think of any off-hand), or places where Keith is obviously dominating Stephen, and then show how that leads to Keith dominating Stephen in the most extreme way possible at the end of the book. The presentation of their relationship in Chapter 2 is therefore significant because it shows how Keith's power over Stephen develops by the end of the novel.

Etcetera, etcetera. The key point in questions like "How is the relationship between Keith and Stephen presented and what is its significance?" is that you're supposed to show how the presentation of their relationship in one part of the book makes the presentation of their relationship in another part of the book more effective or interesting. Why did Frayn bother to say all of that about Keith and Stephen's relationship in Chapter 2? Because he wanted to show the contrast between their early relationship and their relationship later in the book.

Good luck with your essay!
xxx
Reply 2
:smile: thank you, that helped a lot! i get everything generally but for ssome reason i've been finding it really hard to express myself on paper lol

just waiting to see what mark i get now for my very first AS english essay lol

xxx
Reply 3
Np - Tell us how you get on, if you feel you can :biggrin:
Reply 4
Chapter 2 - Spies

Hi can anyone help me? I have an essay question for my first AS level essay for Spies.

My question is How does Michael Frayn present the characters of Keith and Stephen through the comparisons he draws?

I've been off ill so i missed the chapters and have did my best to catch up but just abit stuck really.

Any help would be appreciated.

thanx.

:smile:
Reply 5
Popsylady
Chapter 2 - Spies


My question is How does Michael Frayn present the characters of Keith and Stephen through the comparisons he draws?


:smile:

Well, at the beginning of the novel Frayne uses contrasts to describle both these characters, for example the messiness of stephens appearence against keiths very tidy appearence. both are different in quite a few ways... stephen is like a sheep who follows keith while keith reminds stephen of his authority. the names wheatly and hayward both include words from agriculture, which are used by Frayne to show that the boys are not that different. hope this helps :wink:
Reply 6
Popsylady
Chapter 2 - Spies

Hi can anyone help me? I have an essay question for my first AS level essay for Spies.

My question is How does Michael Frayn present the characters of Keith and Stephen through the comparisons he draws?

I've been off ill so i missed the chapters and have did my best to catch up but just abit stuck really.

Any help would be appreciated.

thanx.

:smile:

Frayn presents the relationship via the first person perspective of Stephen. It is largely Stephen’s interior monologue that presents the relationship to the reader but Stephen also reports his and Keith’s dialogue to the reader. This means that the reader has an intimate relationship with Stephen and unavoidably sympathises with him. This first person narrative allows the reader a graphic insight into Stephen’s feelings of shame and humiliation when teased by KEITH. :rolleyes:
Frayn uses setting to present the two boys and their relationship Keith is socially superior to Stephen and this is suggested by his impeccable and ordered playroom with its many neatly arranged toys. In contrast, Stephen’s home is less grand than Keiths’s and it is shamefully tacked onto the Pinchers’ home (the undesirables) :rolleyes:
Frayn’s military IMAGERY neatly captures the nature of the relationship with Stephen perceiving himself as the private soldier to Keith’s officer. :rolleyes:
ope this helps x big thanks to my english tutor!:wink: