Helen Turrell: Unwed
mother; she was quite ashamed of the society as she was pregnant; she
lied that she was going to France for treatment
Michael Turrell: Son
who got birth in France
Summary of the story
When Helen Turrell became pregnant she was ashamed because she was not married.
She left her home in England to have the baby in the south of France.
When she returned to England, she pretended that the baby was really her
brother’s child. The brother, George, lived in India but he had died
falling off his horse. This meant that Helen had to look after the child. Helen
told other lies. She said that she had to go to the south of France because
she was ill. She said the child had been born in India, but had been
brought to the south of France by a nurse who had been dismissed when
the child became ill, and she also said that she had given the child’s mother
some money.
The child was called Michael. Helen didn’t tell him that she was his real
mother. She said that she was his aunt, and that he was her nephew. Michael was
sent to a private school. At school, he was told that he was born outside
mirage /illusion/ vision.
When the First World War began, Michael joined the army. He did not have to do
much fighting, but he was killed by an exploding shell that completely buried
his body. After the war, Michael was reburied in a huge cemetery in Belgium.
After that, Helen decided to visit the grave of Michael. On her way to
cemetery, she met a woman named Mrs Scarsworth, who said that she visited
graves for her friends who could not come herself. She took photographs of the
graves. Late at night, Mrs Scarsworth came into Helen’s hotel room. She said
that she was telling lies. Her real reason for visiting the cemetery was to
visit the grave of someone special to her (probably a secret lover).
On the next morning, Helen visited the cemetery. It was huge; there were
thousands of black crosses that all looked the same. Helen did not know how she
would find her son’s grave. A gardener approached her. Helen said that she was
looking for her nephew’s grave. The gardener said he would show her the grave
of her son.
1.
What is the real relation between Helen Turrell and Michael?
There is no doubt that the relationship between Helen and Michael is that of
mother and son. Helen was the mother of Michael. But, as she was an unwed
mother, she was ashamed and so she did not declare it. She only said that
Michael was the son of her brother, who had died in India. She also told
that she had managed to bring the child from India only to rear him
up.
2. What is
the truth behind each of the lies Helen tells the village at the beginning of
the
story? Why does she tell these lies?
As
Helen was an unwed mother, she was ashamed of the fact and she did not tell the
truth to her villagers. Rather, she told different lies. Some of the lies told
by her are as follows:
i) She had to go to France for treatment.
ii) Michael was her nephew and that his father was George Turrell.
iii) George had died a few days before Michael’s birth.
iv) Michael was born in India and Helen had given some money to
Michael’s mother to get the child.
v) Michael was brought from India to France by a nurse
but as the nurse was careless, Helen had dismissed her.
The truth behind all these lies was very simple. She herself was Michael’s
mother. So, there was no question of either giving any money to Michael’s
mother or dismissing any nurse. She had no disease. She hadn’t gone to France for
any treatment. She had gone there to give birth to the child.
3. How do we know who
the gardener really is?
There are many explorations to the question: who the gardener was. Some people
say that he was only an employee. Some others say that he was Michael’s father,
who was working there only to live by the grave of Michael. He said ‘son’ rather than ‘nephew’ while leading her to
the grave.
But, I think that the gardener was Lord Christ himself. I think so only because the write
says that there was infinite
compassion / endless love in his eyes. No human being can have such
an infinite compassion except the God. So, the gardener was Jesus Christ. If
it’s so, we can also guess that the Lord had forgiven Helen for her
crime.
source:
www.hsebnote.com
