English Literature- Anita and Me

Anita and Me

CONTEXT

Historical context;

• 1960s-70s mining town in the west-midlands
• The kumars and family describe the partition
• In wolverhampton mines close and so the area becomes deprived

Social Context

• Uses the dialect of the blackcontry- reflects the level of education
• The use of punjab(code-switching) distiqushes the Kumars
• Ballbearing women, Rutters children, reinforce the social class

Cultural Context

• Clash in Indian and values and the Tollington culture- Generates humour
• Anitas disjointed family opposes Meenas
• In Tollington there is many Divorced parents and abandoned children
• The Indian culture shows obdient children and strong marriages
• Partition

Enoch Powell

• Conservative right winger
• Thousands supported him
• Focus on immagration in 'rivers of blood' speech agaist him

SETTING

There are 3 different settings throughout the novel;

• Tollington
• The hospital
• India

Tollington

• A mining villiage
• Every man would have been a miner and all housing belonging to them
• In Meenas 'present' Tollington all mines are closed, very few men are employed
• The women travel to light industry work, unemployed men stay at home
• The closure of the mines leave a village without a means of living

'It had been a community of tough, broad-armed women and fragile old men until a few new famalies started moving in- drawn by the country air and dirt cheap housing- families like us'

• Men had a purpose even non-miners were in trade
• Sense of ommunity had deteriorated
• Bleak futures ahead with the deprivation of the area
• Dont like change - mine closures, the motorway
• mens club run down and closed-scialllly suffered
• 'it hurts to be out of work', lost friends, peace of mind
• Wulfrun center was built- trying to modernise Wolverhampton

Changes to Tollington

• Village school is demolished and a new one is opened on a different estate
• Children will have to travel further so less children will be playing on the streets
• Building plans and new houses
• Motorway link…