94. Jahresbericht des Bundes-Realgymnasiums Steyr 1976/77

Rayna VALEV, s. B: Sd1riftlich e Maturaa rbeit a us Eng 1 i s c h Precis: HelenJ teils Aliso n that she h as to make up her mind about wh at she will do a nd that she will have more responsibility because of the ba by. Helena asks her why she has no t told ]immy that she will have a baby. Helena thinks that Alison has not told Jimmy abou t th e bab y b ecause it could be Cliff's baby. Alison answers her that she is sure t hat it is Jimmy's baby. Helena tells Alison aga in that she should eith er leave Jimmy or Jimmy should trea t her b etter. Alison shows H elena a bear a n1d a squirrel a nd expla ins to her that she and Jimmy u,sed to pl ay a game. Jimmy is the bear and Alison thc squirr el. Ali so n says that even th e bear and th e squirrel seem to go their own ways now. Cliff comes in a nd asks if tea is ready. Alison says yes a nd teils him to caH Jimmy. Cli ff does this and asks Helena -and Alison if they are going out. Helena an swers him that they are go in g to cburch. Cli ff is asto ni shed. Helena invites h im to come with them but he makes a n excuse. While Alison makes up her face Jimmy ent ers the room. H e is a ngry t hat all th e pap ers are messed up already ,a nd he h as not even glanced at them. Cliff asks Jimm y if he may read hi s paper. Jimmy tell s him to buy him self a newspaper if he wa nts to read one and that he is too stupid to read one. He asks AJi.son in quite a rude way where she is going. When ,she tells him thiat she is going to church he is very angry and surprised. He asks Helena if she wants to win Ali son over . Interpretation: Helena Cha rl es is a fr iend of Alison. They had known each o ther before Ali son was ma rried to Ji mmy. Jimmy does not li ke H elena because she is a member of the society whi ch he does not like. When Helena comes to stay with Alison he is no t very polite to her. Jimmy is more a ngry wh en his wife asks Helena to stay with h er longer. He thinks tha t Helena does not like him a nd that she tries to get Alison back home to her parents. This is what Helena reall y wa nts. She convinces Alison tihat she has more res ponsibility with a bab y and that it is no use to s tay with Jimmy b eca use h e do es not know how to behave an.d how to treat her. She Mkes adva ntage of Alison's bein g tired of th e quarrels an1d provocations. She send s A li so n ' s father a telegram to fetch hi s daughter hom e. TI1en she takes over Ali so n ' s roJ.e a nd stays wi th Jimmy. She tells him that sh e has always wanted him. Th at is why I think that she tries to get Ali son out of her way. Helena cannot un dersta 11d the relaticmship between Cliff a nd Alison eirher. She thinks A l ison does not teil Jimmy about the baby because sh e does not know if it is Cliff's or Jimmy's baby. However, Alison says that she has on ly wanted Jimm y a nd never anyone el se. I think she really lo ves Jimmy. She does not tel1 Jimmy about the baby because h e wil1 think that she only wa nts h im to be nice to her. Helena does not understa nd that Al ison and Cliff like ea d1 other wit hout making love. Cliff always ch eers up Alison when Jimmy is rude to her. Alison thinks that h er a nd Jimmy'-s relat ionshi p would b e much worse if Cliff did not stay with them. Cliff has the role of a mediater. He a lways tries to avo id quarrels b etween Jimmy and Alison. When H elena takes over Alison's ro le Cliff leaves Jimmy. l thi nk h e leaves h im because of Helena , although he says that he wants a girl and 23