Tyres
By Adam Thorpe
(2000)
Biography
•Adam was born in Paris in 1956
•He grew up in India, Cameroon and England, however now lives in France.
•It is said that his works are often inspired by the different surroundings that he has lived in.
•His writing is often based about war or in times of war, particularly World War 2. • He wrote
•In 1998 a novel called “Pieces of light”, a story based on the second world war. •In 2001 a novel about a young boy wishing to write about WW1 and its
aftermath effects
•In 2005 a novel set in a German museum during WW2
•Similarly he bases some of his stories on tales of his own family, such as his
Grandmother who escapes from the Germans to quietly and peacefully die under a tree in England
See here for more info on Adam:
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth95
Themes
The determination/pride for your work and it’s potential to consume lives.
• “One must never fall short of the highest standards”
• “If you fall short- ‘cutting corners’ and grow sloppy- and give a man an inner tube that you believe
yourself is passable you might send that man to his death”.
Both the Father and son believe that their job is of upmost
importance and take it very
seriously. However the son does sometimes slack off-
“If I let my attention wander , or felt too lazy to triple check pressure.”
Love/ human relationships and the danger of.
• “I was in love if there is such a thing”
• “I was left gazing after her”
He often brings her up and describes her vividly compared to his father and other characters.
She is the cause of distraction to his work.
• Someone who, if suddenly no longer there, can leave a hole in your heart, and a feeling of doom until the moment he or she
reappears.”
Themes
Rebellion against oppression
(Resistance)/ price paid for freedom
Basically, the girl is the price paid by the boy.
Through his act of rebellion, he kills what he wished to protect in the first place.
• “I leave fresh flowers every year” • Replacing them with plastic
flowers, “To be honest, no one
knows the difference, shooting past as they do these days”
Death and its aftermath
He describes the moment when the car crashes as-
• “The beginning of winter”
Using “Winter” to effectively explain how he feels, and how sad he is. • “No sons”- “staying unmarried” Showing that he is unable to let go his
Characters
Father
• The father is a symbol of hard work and determination.
• He is a role model to his son in the way that he shows him how to take pride in his work.
Son (Narrator)
• The son is a symbol of the slipping standards of workers today. He is described to be “lazy” at times and is distracted easily by the girl.
• He is also a symbol of how men destroy the things they love.
Characters
Cécile
• She symbolizes desire, temptation and is a distraction to the young boy.
• Although she does not say much in the story, she is very important in terms of the plot.
German officer
• He is a figure head of the German forces.
• He is described as “looming” and has a threatening feel about him. • He symbolizes the oppression of
the German forces. • “The enemy”
Language Techniques
The son metaphorically compares things to his work with tyres.Son: “As if someone had taken a pump to my mouth and overdone the pedal”
This shows his genuine care about his work and that it is all he knows.
Son: “For me though, it was the beginning of winter, not the end”.
The use of winter, as mentioned before, is a metaphor for his feelings of sadness and loneliness. It is also used to create imagery, to show that his world is now ‘cold’. These techniques are used to create sympathy for the character and try help us connect with him further.
Father: “I will be the old fellow who stands watching the world go by and getting in your hair, and proving, at 90, what a damn good grip I still have at the expense of your clients knuckles”
“Watching the world” is used because the tyre business is basically the world to them as it is all that they care about and know so well.
This line is repeated almost exactly at the end of the story because it actually happens. This shows the strong will and determination of the father
Structure
Chronological order.
Starts at his birth and ends when he is an old man.
At the end, the story jumps into the future. This is used to show that the pain of his loss still effects him years after the accident.
It also shows his care for her “I leave fresh flowers every year”.
Cyclic structure.
The son starts helping his father in the tyre yard at a young age, “I started
helping my father as soon as I could stand upright, just as he helped his father.”
and then later at the end, shows the son working with the father getting in his way and watching him, as the son did when he was young.
This shows a role switch which is used to show that the father cannot let go of the job as it is all he knows, and shows that the son should be happy to have his dream job, but isn't because of his lost love.
