Jenny Pen

Jenny Pen

  • Submitted By: hannahf20
  • Date Submitted: 10/08/2013 7:15 PM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 688
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 3

Written by the New Zealand author Owen Marshall the short story “The rule of Jenny Penn” gives us an insight into a retirement home. Marshall shows the protagonist as a strong older man residing in the home who finds joy in bullying the weaker residents. This unseen side of retirement homes is a shocking way to show readers that sometimes places like homes are not as safe and friendly as they make themselves out to be. Marshall uses the interesting language technique of animal imagery throughout the short story to portray a certain side of the bully ‘Crealy’. This side being the evil nature of this aging man who is not only somebody we would not suspect such behaviour from but also the way he uses his power and strength on those who are weaker.
We all know the story of The Lion King. The Lions keep the wild ‘safe’ and where everyone is supposed to be and the ‘enemies’ if you will are the ugly, cruel looking hyenas who take over the wild and kill all happiness . Marshall uses this analogy in his story to give us a view of contempt and fear towards Crealy. “… knew that where there are no Lions, Hyenas rule.” The fact that there are no ‘Lions’ in place to keep the hyenas at bay implies that the supervision from the staff in the home is poor. I now picture Crealy as a grotesque creature who is cruel and unforgiving and gave me a feeling of revulsion towards this man. Referring to something associating with evil and unpleasant behaviour is a good way to get the reader to visualise what the author wants us to see and gets us engaged. When I am thinking of Crealy I can now associate with personal matters to increase my understanding of the text. Marshall does well to incorporate animal imagery into the text to help improve our view of what he wants us to take away from ‘The rule of Jenny Penn’.
Another animal imagery is used effectively is when Crealy is on a hunt for a victim. Marshall takes away all thoughts of human behaviour by giving him an animal mentality....

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