Set in Dungatar, a barren wasteland of traditionalism and superstition, isolated amidst the rapidly modernising post-World War II Australia, acclaimed author Rosalie Ham’s gothic novel, The Dressmaker, provides a fascinating window into 1950s Australia. I find it to be one of the most intriguing texts of our time - managing to weave together a historical narrative with humour, wit, and modern-day social concerns regarding patriarchy, class, and the effects of isolation. Here I have included an analysis of Doerr’s message - what he is trying to say or show within his novel. Ultimately an author has a message they seek to share with the world. Providing your own interpretation of certain messages the author may be attempting to send to his readers adds real depth to your writing, showing that you are not only considering the novel itself but the purpose of the author and how this novel came to explore the fundamental ideas of the essay prompt. We’ve got a theme-based prompt here, which really calls for your essay to be explicitly focused on the theme at hand. That means that we shouldn’t stray from the idea of ‘oppressive communities’. Keep it as the centre of your essay and look at how events relate to this idea - we’ll break it down more in Step 2 so you can properly explore it. Would recommend? Yes, you may like it better than me... I have a feeling this is one that won't stay with me. I don't regret reading it (and thank you again to my Goodreads Secret Santa!), just wish I had liked it better. One of those where you really don't like most of the characters but still read on to see what happens.

Throughout Stories We Tell, Polley continually emphasises the impossibility of knowing a truth with absolute certainty. Her stance is shaped by the clouded nature of her paternity and family history, exemplified within the text by the varying accounts of Diane’s personality. Portraying her as “infectious” and “enthusiastic”, Polley captures Diane dancing - cleverly lighting up her face, thus symbolising her warm nature. However, juxtaposing this is Deidre’s assertion that Diane was a “woman of secrets” - bolstered by Polley’s recreation of a covert phone call in which Diane ponders the identity of Sarah’s biological father. Through her presentation of contrasting recollections of her mother, Director Polley showcases the relativity of truth within her own family, inviting the audience to question the meaning of truth in their own lives, highlighting that “you can never get to an answer.” As a result, Stories We Tell predominantly displays the impossibility of one knowing a singular truth. Molly was mentally and emotionally disabled by the perpetual vendettas against her. Many years of neglect resulted in her physical poor health, unable to take care of herself.

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Coming up with a clear contention allows you to put together a cohesive and strong essay that answers all aspects of the prompt question. Tilly’s eye-catching dress designs rapidly attract the attention of the Dungatar women, who commission several outfits from her. And though they love their new apparel, they still refuse to see Tilly as a person, and reject her repeatedly, until a terrible accident which pretty much puts paid to ever gaining any respect from the town, and which leads eventually to Tilly’s rather spectacular act of revenge. The Dressmaker is an eccentric story of love and death, of thwarted hopes and clung-to dreams, which begins at the end with a chapter numbered 0 and the ominous word ‘Afterwards…’ At its heart are three women living in Liverpool during the Second World War, their characters so pungently flavoured by Bainbridge that the male characters are mere shadows. Set in Liverpool and Lancashire during World War II, a repressed dressmaker and her sister struggle looking after their 17-year-old niece, who is having a delusional affair with an American soldier. What’s the point of having a law enforcer if he enforces the law according to himself, not the legal law?”

Our clearest indication that Dungatar is not only traditionalistic, but absolutely reviles change and outside influence, is right at the start of the novel, when a train conductor laments that there’s “naught that’s poetic about damn [progress].” Here, we see the overriding contention of Rosalie Ham’s novel - that because a community like Dungatar has been isolated for so long, it has become absolutely committed to maintaining its traditionalism at all costs. There are more symbolic reflections of how stagnant the town has become, such as the fact that Evan Pettyman, the town’s elected Councillor, has been in the role for multiple decades without fail - or that the same teacher who ostracised Tilly as a child, Prudence Dimm, is still in charge of the town’s school. Social Class Myrtle and Molly Dunnage were the outcasts in Dungatar, Australia. Paying for other people's sins were more like it, but the town did not find it difficult to make these two people the culprits of the town's many secrets, meanness and bigotry. Openly so. With no remorse of any kind. Before writing our topic sentences, we need to look at our key words first. The keywords in this prompt are outcasts and treated.Bernd had ‘no friends’ as a child - showing his isolated past - which could be described as the reason he leaves his father and goes off to join the Hilter Youth ‘just like the other boys.’ (find this analysis in the chapter ‘The Death of Walter Bernd’) Which characters represent society’s values? Which ones oppose them? Do we as readers favour those that represent or oppose society’s values? It's also important to introduce the notion of a classist society. A classist society is one where all social relations are built on these aforementioned economic and social divides - in other words, everything you do in life, and everything you are able to do , is built on where you sit in the class structure. The Dressmaker speaks extensively about social class. By class, what I mean is the economic and social divisions which determine where people sit in society. For instance, we could say that the British Royals are ‘upper class’, whilst people living paycheque to paycheque and struggling to get by are ‘lower class’.

Because the book is much darker than the movie. Gloriously so, in fact. The people in the book are, for the most part all the worst of the insular, the malicious, the self satisfied and the cruel that are quite often to be found in small towns. The characterisations of the people of Dungatar are often stereotypes with just enough humour or quirkiness to make them stand up as individuals, but often few mitigating factors to make them likable. There are exceptions, several of the characters are very likable indeed, but as a rule while reading, one feels the chill of being in enemy territory as Tilly clearly is. Individual recollections of Michael’s actions and demeanor during this period belong to each storyteller, and form the basis for what they consider to be the ‘truth’ regarding Michael and Sarah’s relationship. By presenting contrasting accounts of the same event, Polley reveals her stance on the idea of truth - being that it is entirely subjective and open to interpretation, centred around the perceptions of each individual at any moment in time. It is entirely possible that Michael did “smoke all day” and feel a sense of increased “close[ness]” with Sarah, but due to the variability of the human memory, this is impossible to state with any certainty - illustrating the fallible nature of universal truths. We have explored some of the different criterion points in past blog posts, but this time we’ll be focusing on number 3, the ways in which authors/directors express or imply a point of view and values.

As the women saw the evidence of Tilly’s skill, they were bemused. But they also wanted to own beautiful dresses and so the competition to be the best dressed began. Rivalry and resentment were rife in the town – whatever would happen next? Step 3: Create a Plan Theme-Based Prompt: Rosalie Ham’s The Dressmaker condemns fundamentally oppressive communities. Discuss. Step 1: Analyse

For The Crucible, that’s precisely why the witchcraft crisis is so threatening, as the Salemites are prepared to replace Reverend Parris and deny his authority. Although Abigail and the group of girls thus single-handedly overturn Salem’s class structures and replace it with their own tyranny, Parris’ original intention was to use their power to reinforce his authority. In The Dressmaker, Tilly is threatening because she doesn’t neatly fit in to Dungatar’s class structure. Having travelled the outside world, she represents a worldly mindset and breadth of experiences which the townspeople know they cannot match.Valerie has a party and invites the American troops stationed nearby. There, Rita meets Ira, one of the soldiers. He is dull-witted, insensitive, and illiterate, but Rita thinks he is “like a movie star.” She projects all her romantic illusions onto him, and they begin to see each other secretly, although Ira is not enthusiastic about it.