Night (Edexcel IGCSE English Language A)

Revision Note

Written by: Deb Orrock

Reviewed by: Kate Lee

Night Analysis

Students studying the Edexcel IGCSE English Language A qualification will study all of the English language poetry and prose texts in Part 2 of the Anthology for Paper 2 (examined) or for Paper 3 (non-examined coursework).

If you are sitting the paper two exam, you will be asked to analyse one of the poems or prose texts, which will be included in the question paper. You will have one question to answer about one of these texts in the exam, and you will be asked to analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects.

The following guide to Night by Alice Munro contains:

Night overview
Night summary
Themes, ideas and perspectives in Night
How does Munro present her ideas and perspectives?

Night overview

Alice Munro is a Canadian writer primarily known for her short stories. Night is autobiographical in nature, describing a period of insomnia Munro experienced as a teenage girl after her appendix and a growth, or tumour, were removed.

In the story, she recalls how a terrible thought grew in her mind while she was awake in the night; she later confesses her thoughts to her father, who responds very calmly, helping her to overcome her feelings. The story is told from the perspective of Munro as an older woman, and considers themes of parenting, the psychological effects of illness and the silence and isolation experienced by those who cannot sleep.

Night summary

The narrator starts by reflecting that dramatic events in her childhood always coincided with a snowstorm. This was also the case when, one night, the narrator experienced pain in her side and was taken to hospital by her neighbours’ horses to have her appendix removed. After she recovered, her mother revealed that the doctors also removed a large growth, which may or may not have been cancerous (although she presumes not as she is still alive to tell the tale).

The narrator then started to have trouble getting to sleep, experiencing negative or intrusive thoughts and fears about strangling her little sister in her sleep. To combat these feelings, she had to get up and walk around the house or go outside until she was tired enough to go back to bed.

In the early hours of one morning, she encounters her father, fully dressed, sitting on the stoop, and she confesses her thoughts to him. He reacts calmly and tells her not to worry and that people have those kinds of thoughts sometimes. He did not think she was in danger of acting upon them, and his caring reaction meant that she stopped having disturbing thoughts and no longer had insomnia.

Themes, ideas and perspectives in Night

Paper 2, Question 1 will ask you how the writer has presented a certain theme, idea or perspective in the text by analysing the language and structure the writer has used. Remember to support your answer with close reference to the text, including brief quotations.

What are the key themes in Night?

Theme	Analysis
Parenting	The narrator of the story is an adult considering a period of time in her childhood, and the impact of her father’s kind actions: The first-person narrative perspective allows the narrator to comment on the events with the benefit of experience and hindsight
Parenting	Munro reflects on parenting styles and how attitudes can change over time: Her father’s patience and blameless acceptance of her confession provides catharsis This is juxtaposed with descriptions of the mistakes of parenting, when you are both “humbled” and “disgusted with yourself” She reflects that parenting inherently involves making mistakes, but her father did not seem burdened by this kind of reflection Munro also alludes to brutal encounters with her father’s “belt” as an example of his mistakes (reflecting societal conventions at the time) While she might not have agreed with all of his methods, Munro suggests that having a caring parent is always better in the long term
Psychological effects of illness	The trigger for this story is an illness and a sense that she has a new awareness of her own mortality, reinforced by repetition of the metaphorical “cloud” of cancer, following the removal of a tumour: This event may have triggered the intrusive thoughts about strangling her sister She doesn’t feel “herself”, moving from a relatively carefree childhood to feeling “more and more disturbed” by dark thoughts and metaphorical “demons”
Psychological effects of illness	Her father suggests that her unwanted thoughts may have been caused by ether: She accepts her father’s blameless rationalisation about her murderous thoughts, helping her to move on Munro could be suggesting that sudden illness and extended periods of recovery can provoke inner reflections about our identity and place in the world

How does Munro present her ideas and perspectives?

Night is a long extract, so it is important to focus your analysis around the key themes and select the specific elements of language and structure that contribute to these themes.

Technique	Analysis
Symbolism	The connection between dramatic events, illness and snowstorms is established at the start of the story: This use of pathetic fallacy foreshadows the dark thoughts she later wrestles with The snowstorms also symbolise the difficulties the narrator’s family must overcome The “Night” itself also symbolises the narrator’s dark and secret thoughts: Her unwanted thoughts only surface and overwhelm her at night; the daytime represents peace She finds peace by discussing her repressed feelings symbolically at dawn, representing her new-found hope
First person narrative perspective	The writer adopts a first-person narrative perspective for this reflective and retrospective biographical story: We are introduced to the thoughts and feelings of the narrator, but not other characters The writer uses internal monologue to reveal her thoughts and mental struggles
Narrative structure	Munro uses a clear five-part narrative structure, with the climax being the revelation that she thinks of strangling her sister: There is also a resolution as she overcomes her struggles: “from then on I could sleep” The end is reassuring as she overcomes psychological trauma and mental unrest This is further emphasised by the short declarative sentences at the end of the story
Repetition, short sentences and rhetorical questions	Munro uses repetition to create a sense of foreboding, that something negative might occur and that the narrator is fearful of recurring situations: The repetition, short sentences and use of rhetorical questions convey the narrator’s disturbed state of mind