Polly keer

Lngllsh Coursework

Cold vlcLorla pulled her hood closer Lo her head shleldlng herself from Lhe wlnd LhaL whlpped
around her as she walLed for Lhe dark black car Lo appear Lhrough Lhe crowded Lrafflc She
remembered Lhe days ln her chlldhood where she could counL on !uly belng warm and rldlculously
sunny Lhe seasons rolllng lnLo each oLher wlLhouL any compllcaLlons She frowned noLlclng Lhe dark
grey clouds knowlng LhaL a flxed summer ln Lngland was a Lhlng of Lhe pasL 1hey had rulned Lhe
weaLherlng seasons years ago ChrlsLmas was no longer promlsed Lo be whlLe ln facL lasL year Lhere
was a shocklngly harsh heaLwave LhaL suffocaLed Lhe counLry leavlng Lhe woolly socks and Lhe
ChrlsLmas [umpers pushed far back ln vlcLorla's closeL
?our car ls here Mlss WhlnsLon" Lhe young man dressed smarLly gesLured Lo Lhe 8enLley
parklng up agalnsL Lhe curb She nodded aL hlm sllenLly before leLLlng hlm open Lhe door for her Pls
eyes lowered respecLfully as she slld lnLo Lhe backseaL wlLh a professlonal grace and he shuL Lhe
door behlnd her She expecLed Lhe sllence ln Lhe car as her drlver pulled away lnLo Lhe sea of Lrafflc
full of cars slmllar Lo hers Per LhoughLs could noL help buL drlfL underneaLh her where Lhe lower
class drove underground baLLllng for alr aL Lhe end of Lhelr [ourneys WlLh a sharp slgh vlcLorla
pushed Lhe LhoughL ouL of her head and began scannlng her dlary Per scrawled wrlLlng was barely
readable buL she began reclLlng Lomorrow's rouLlne ln her mlnd ln an aLLempL Lo dlsLracL herself lL
only Look a few mlnuLes of repeaLlng 'markeLlng meeLlng aL four' Lo bore her vlcLorla ran an
exasperaLed hand Lhrough her Lhlck coal black halr wlLh anoLher slgh
lL was LhaL Llme of year agaln a Llme of year vlcLorla could noL escape Lhe Llme of year
when Lhe 8eplenlshmenL would begln lL wasn'L hldden llke one would expecL buL made a parL of
normal socleLy Long llnes of men professlonal career men whose egos were larger Lhan Lhelr bank
accounLs queued ouLslde Lhe dark burgundy bulldlng on Lhe corner of Maln SLreeL 1he bulldlng was
larger Lhan mosL mulLlconglomeraLes' headquarLers large and faL Lo home lLs lnhablLanLs and ln Lhe
old summer monLh of !uly lL would be ouLllned wlLh rows of men [oklng wlLh one anoLher as one by
one Lhey were leL Lhrough Lhe large bolLed doors 1he bulldlng lLself hld Lhe lnsLlLuLlon behlnd lL a
very dlfferenL world Lo Lhe one vlcLorla llved ln lnslde were Lhe 8earers 1hey were ofLen llghLly
referred Lo as 'housewlves' by men buL Lhelr [ob ln socleLy now was noL Lo endure Lhe Lask of sprlng
cleanlng or bake cakes for Lhe chlldren's bake sale 1hey were no longer puL up on posLers as Lhe
ldeal woman nobody wanLed Lo be a 8earer
ln Lhe old summer monLh of !uly a group of men dlfferlng year Lo year would vlslL Lhe
8earers and replenlsh Lhe populaLlon ln a conLrolled and supervlsed manner as Lhe law sLaLed
before reLurnlng Lo work as execuLlves and members of managemenL
1he chlldren born ouL of Lhe 8eplenlshmenL would llve slxLeen years ln Lhe carefully
supervlsed enclosure wlLh Lhelr moLhers Lhelr faLhers unknown and Lhelr fuLure ln Lhe real world
uncerLaln 1hen aL Lhe Lender age of slxLeen young boys would be released from Lhe enclosure Lo
parLake ln manual labour or hlghend careers whllsL Lhe young glrls' lnLelllgence and sklll would be
LesLed ln Lhe uecember exams Lhelr paLh ln llfe deLermlned by Lhe resulLs Lhey galn very llLLle was
known abouL Lhe LesL lLself or how lL was scored buL lL elLher propelled Lhe glrl lnLo an exclLlng llfe as
a woman ln Lhe career world or lL dragged Lhem back lnLo Lhe lnsLlLuLlon forclng Lhem Lo llve a llfe
as a 8earer
vlcLorla had been one of Lhe lucky ones provlng herself Lo be lnLelllgenL enough Lo be a
respecLed career woman She had been able Lo narrowly escape Lhe secluded llfe of a 8earer buL aL
a cosL Per eyes fllckered up as she noLlced a flash of burgundy Lhrough her backseaL wlndow lL was
noL unusual for her hearLbeaL Lo race uncomforLably when she made her dally [ourney pasL Lhe
lnsLlLuLlon buL lL was almosL palnful now as she noLlced one or Lwo men walLlng around ouLslde
dressed smarLly She had been LaughL lL was Lhe safe and lnLellecLual way Lo malnLaln a respecLable
populaLlon wlLhln Lhe counLry Lhe soluLlon Lo Lhe recklessness of Lhe generaLlons before her
SocleLy was now abouL lmprovemenL flxlng mlsLakes Lhe counLry had made crlLlclslng Lhe llfesLyles
people had llved ln Lhe pasL lL was drummed lnLo her head by Lhe Mlddles women who were
chosen aL random Lo supervlse 8earers and Lhelr chlldren 1hey acLed as Leachers cooks maLrons
vlcLorla had feared Lhem dreadlng noL only a llfe slmllar Lo her moLher's buL a llfe as a Mlddle a
woman socleLy was unsure of so Lhey kepL her secLloned off from Lhe real world buL provlded her
wlLh elemenLs of auLhorlLy almosL as an apology
l do apologlse Mlss WhlnsLon" her drlver cleared hls LhroaL nervously wlLhouL looklng back
aL her we have hlL a blL of bad Lrafflc We should geL movlng soon"
1haL's qulLe alrlghL" vlcLorla replled blunLly her eyes unmovlng from Lhe deep shade of
red lL ls rush hour lL's expecLed" She was hoplng he'd conLlnue Lalklng Lo her so she could be
dlsLracLed buL Lhe rules of sLaLus had been deeply lngralned ln every lowerclass person 1hey knew
noL Lo lnLeracL wlLh someone as lmporLanL as vlcLorla wlLhouL reason 1o her dlsappolnLmenL an
uneasy sllence followed her words and so she Look maLLers ln her own hands Pave you ever vlslLed
Lhe lnsLlLuLlon lln?" lL was a rebelllous quesLlon she knew buL she could noL help buL ask
Per quesLlon Look a whlle Lo reglsLer and lln's expresslon LwlsLed lL was unfamlllar for a
man Lo be embarrassed abouL Laklng parL ln Lhe 8eplenlshmenL afLer all lL was lllegal noL Lo Pls
brow furrowed sllghLly before he caughL her eye
?es Mlss WhlnsLon l have"
vlcLorla dld noL heslLaLe Lo conLlnue Lhelr conversaLlon Wlll you be dolng lL agaln Lhls
year?"
no noL Lhls year l Look parL lasL !uly" Pls cholce of words made lL sound llke a charlLy
campalgn lL made vlcLorla's sLomach LwlsL sllghLly buL she found someLhlng famlllar ln hls Lone of
volce Pe spoke wlLh a reserved manner hls volce low and hls usual pollLeness belng sLrlpped slowly
from hls words lL was clear he was one of Lhe few ln socleLy who dlsagreed wlLh Lhe 8eplenlshmenL
vlcLorla was anoLher
She declded noL Lo push lL any furLher relucLanL Lo make hlm feel any more uncomforLable
and wlLh perfecL Llmlng Lhe Lrafflc eased forwards and soon Lhe burgundy enclosure dlsappeared
from slghL
vlcLorla's hearLbeaL slowed wlLh rellef as her car pulled up ouLslde her large whlLe
Lownhouse Lvery day she quesLloned Lhe reasons why she llved ln such a large house when lL only
homed herself and her Lhree malds 1hey were clever glrls arLlculaLe and wellspoken buL Lhey had
falled Lo Lhrlve ln Lhe career world llke vlcLorla had and so Lhey had dropped down ln socleLy llvlng
llfe parLaklng ln manual labour
Pave a good evenlng Mlss WhlnsLon" lln smlled sllghLly down aL her as he opened her
door
lor Lhe flrsL Llme she smlled back ?ou Loo lln"
Per house was quleL as she sLrode ln leavlng her brlefcase by Lhe door Anna would reLrleve
lL as soon as she heard vlcLorla's fooLsLeps drlfL lnLo Lhe lounge
CalLlln!" Per volce was sharp as she called ouL lnLo Lhe empLlness of her house As
expecLed Lhe small glrl wlLh her glnger halr neaLly pulled back lnLo a plalL appeared ln Lhe doorway
wearlng her preLLy whlLe plnafore vlcLorla could noL help buL smlle aL her puncLuallLy and she
almosL felL proud Lo have such a wellbehaved glrl llvlng wlLh her
?es Mlss WhlnsLon?"
A poL of Lea would be lovely" she Lurned away from Lhe young glrl hoverlng ln Lhe
doorway and l belleve l sLlll have some of Lhose small sugared blsculLs lefL? l'll have Lwo of Lhose
Loo please" CalLlln dldn'L repeaL her order lnsLead she rushed off Lo Lhe klLchen where she would
flnd Anna and PeaLher resLlng vlcLorla gave a small slgh of rellef as she Look off her shoes and saL
back ln her armchalr lL was unforLunaLe however LhaL Lhe sllence gave her yeL more Llme Lo geL losL
ln her Langled LhoughLs
1here were very few llke her lL was a shameful Lhlng Lo admlL LhaL vlcLorla had cerLaln
greed lnslde her a feellng only a sllly woman llke herself would harbour underneaLh her almosL
faulLless professlonal manner 1he greed was fed dally as she en[oyed llvlng alongslde her Lhree
malds vlcLorla could noL squash her maLernal deslre she wanLed a chlld She could noL brlng herself
Lo say she wanLed a famlly she had been llvlng llfe as a slngle woman for Len years now and noL one
man had proven hlmself Lo her Per percepLlons were clouded Lhough as she sllenLly blamed Lhem
for noL rebelllng agalnsL Lhe law of 8eplenlshmenL for allowlng only Lhe 8earers Lo have Lhe good
forLune of a chlld
As a young slxLeen year old glrl vlcLorla had noL been LaughL Lhe rules of socleLy She was
unaware LhaL lf she were Lo excel ln Lhe uecember LesLs she would be deprlved of Lhe one Lhlng she
had wanLed from a young age A chlld 1he law sLaLed LhaL Lo keep Lhe populaLlon under conLrol and
keep Lhe process of 8eplenlshmenL necessary Lhe glrls who were able Lo become career women
were noL permlLLed Lo have chlldren As always laws were LesLed by cerLaln maverlcks 1here were
myLhs of women susplclously dlsappearlng afLer noL only havlng a career buL Lhen also havlng Lhelr
own chlldren llvlng secreLly ln Lhelr homes lL was Lhe only hldden parL of socleLy
lL was clear Lo vlcLorla however LhaL she musL one day overpower Lhe law and embrace her
maLernal lnsLlncLs even as a career woman