Study notes 1

a) The start of the story is very nature-centered, describing all the details of the landscape, starting
with a beautiful description of the view, gradually changing into something more industrial. The
plot revolves around a couple and an American lady travelling to Paris on a train. The story
leaves you with a feeling of uncertainty and anxiety. It doesn’t relate much to the Module,
having only travelling in common. I liked exploring the small details in the story.

Study notes 2

b) 1. Society should not define the way one thinks. – “Some one, a very good friend, told me once,
“No foreigner can make an American girl a good husband”.”

One can’t persuade their way of thinking onto someone else. – “She wouldn’t eat anything and
she wouldn’t sleep at all. I couldn’t have her marry a foreigner.”

The fear of change is what makes one trapped. – “The American lady had bought her own
clothes from the same mansion de couture for 20 years.”

2. The American lady is a woman who expresses her conservative feelings a lot, in which way the
author shows parallels between the way she treats her daughter and the canary. The author
also uses her as a way to express the destructive consequences of actions this character takes.
“I’ve tried so very hard, but she doesn’t seem to take an interest in anything. She doesn’t care
about things. I couldn’t have her marrying a foreigner.”
The couple is supposed to show the duality of a perfect image and express that sometimes
things aren’t what they seem. They’re both American, which the American lady approves of and
show no real signs of being on bad terms, creating an illusion that everything is fine.

3. The American lady is telling about how the way she treated her daughter affected her. She
expressed a lot of conservative thoughts, supporting the idea that things should stay as they are.
“She wouldn’t eat anything and she wouldn’t sleep at all. I’ve tried so very hard, but she doesn’t
seem to take an interest in anything.”
“It had always been the same  couturier. Prices, however, had gone up. The exchange,
though,  equalized  that. They had her daughter’s measurements now too. She was grown up and
there was not much chance of their changing now.”
““I’m so glad you’re Americans. American men make the best husbands,” the American lady was
saying.”
The couple doesn’t seem off at all, they don’t quarrel or express any negative emotions towards
each other. However, that’s because they’ve lost their feelings and are getting a divorce.
We were returning to Paris to  set up  separate  residences.

4. In the end, the American lady encounters her biggest fear: she sees a car wreck. This fear of
being in a situation she can’t control always scared her but that’s what she has to witness. The
so-called “perfect” American couple is finally getting a divorce upon their arrival to Paris.
Study notes 3

Theme/characte Example Techniques Effect

r

American lady The American lady Depictions By showing the American lady
pulled the window- pulling the blind down, we
blind down and can see a very fitting imagery
there was no more for her character. It is very
sea, even industrial, the opposite of
occasionally. On the natural- the symbol of
other side there was
freedom. It represents
glass, then the
control, abuse and lack of free
corridor, then an
open window, and will.
outside the window
were dusty trees
and an oiled road
and flat fields of
grapes, with gray-
stone hills behind
them.

American couple As it was getting Symbols A burning house that

dark the train everyone is watching from
passed a afar is a symbol of the
farmhouse burning couple’s marriage. Just like it,
in a field. Motor-
it is slowly crumbling down,
cars were stopped
along the road and destroying the perfect image.
bedding and things And no one does a thing to
from inside the prevent it from happening.
farmhouse
were spread in the
field. Many people
were watching the
house burn.

American lady’s “I’m taking him Symbols The canary locked inside the
daughter home to my little cage symbolizes lady’s
girl. There – he’s
daughter. Just like this bird,
singing now.”
she’s got no will to do as she
The canary chirped pleases and has no interest in
and the feathers on singing anymore. She’s being
his throats stood controlled by her mother who
out, then he thinks she knows best what’s
dropped his bill and going to make her happy.
pecked into his
feathers again.

Life passing by There was a blue Symbols The fast-going train is a

light outside the symbol of life passing by too
compartment, and
fast, of having no real control
all night the train
went very fast and of the future that lies ahead.
 the American lady The heat that comes from
lay awake and inside which is unusual for a
waited for a wreck.
fast-going train also shows
It was very hot in
the train and it was the heated relationships
very hot in the lit between the American lady
salon compartment. and her daughter/between
the American couple.

Study notes 4

The Russian audiobook gets rid of some references to American and French culture: Evian
water, dialogue related to braces and being British, the mentioning of Marseilles. It also changes
the translation for some phrases or completely omits them: “too tall to stare”, the
advertisement text, “prices have gone up”.
I had a similar view on the text while I was reading it, although I wasn’t as emotional since I
didn’t know which words to stress for the best result because it was my first time reading it.
The voice used for the American lady was very fitting, I think. I would probably read it in a
similar way. He makes this character’s voice really annoying to show her personality through her
voice as well as some of her most prominent characteristics. It immediately makes the character
really unlikable. The American couple stays quite neutral, showing no real excitement or strong
feelings.
The author chooses to change some phrases or omit some words in order for the reader not to
get too confused. There are some differences in the Russian pop-culture and the American one,
so some things wouldn’t be understood by Russian readers. That’s why the text got adapted to
the Russian reality.

Study notes 5

The author shows how changes are inevitable and by sticking to some norms created by society
you’re preventing yourself from leaving your own life. Society cannot know what’s best for you,
it’s up for everyone to decide. Not everything people think is true and applies to your particular
situation. One should make their own choices and not be afraid of going against the rules.
Despite the American lady’s beliefs, life cannot be controlled and staying still isn’t the key to
happiness. Her daughter suffers from her actions that were influenced by the way the society
thinks. The mere thought that led to the destruction of her daughter’s happiness turns out to be
wrong as the so-called perfect couple is actually getting a divorce. I’ve noticed more small
details that made me understand the text better after analyzing it thoroughly. It added more
depth to my initial feelings about it and made me like it even more.