Seminar 3

Allan Sillitoe: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

1.Choose the correct variant

1.When and where was Sillitoe born

a) France on April 2,1928 b) England on March 4,1928

c)Georgia on May 3,1928 d) Spain on March4,1928

2. What age did Sillitoe stop going to public school

answer choices

a)10 b) 14 c) 16 d) 22

3. After his discharge what three places did he live for a decade

a) France, Italy, Spain b) France, Italy, Sweden

c)Italy, France, England d) England, Cuba, Paris

4. What was Sillitoe award Author's Club prize

a) The Loneliness of the Long-distance Runnner

b) Saturday Evening and Sundays Morning

c) Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

d) Saturdays Morning and Sunday Morning

5. Who is the narrator in The loneliness of the Long-distance Runner

a) Sillitoe b) Smith c) Smith's mom d) Mike

2. Comment on the quotes

The novel is an interesting read from the perspective of gender studies, and it places a
great deal of emphasis on the normative masculinity of Arthur Seaton, not only in his
physical appearance but also in his habits: he fights a lot, he is sexually promiscuous,
and he has an aggressive attitude toward the world at large. These qualities seem at
least somewhat valorized in Sillitoe's depiction of Seaton. The following quotes are
all uttered by Seaton and serve to sum up his character:

1.All I'm out for is a good time—all the rest is propaganda.

Arthur spends his days doing repetitive work in a bicycle factory in Nottingham and
dreaming about escaping the monotony of his life. He escapes on weekends, when he
drinks, stirs up trouble, and has passionate sex with women. Maybe it is only a weak
survival strategy by him.

2.I'm me and nobody else; and whatever people think I am or say I am, that's what
I'm not, because they don't know a bloody thing about me.

Maybe, he thinks that nobody can understand him. He thinks that his lifestyle (I mean
on Saturdays) could compensate him and fulfill his desires. However, he cannot be
honestly happy with these things. Maybe with this quote, he is not angry with others
but with himself.

3. If you went through life refusing all the bait dangled in front of you, that would be
no life at all. No changes would be made and you would have nothing to fight
against. Life would be dull as ditchwater.

He thinks that playing with others emotions are fun. However he is not brave enough
to stand up and fight for a better world.

4. As soon as you were born you were captured by fresh air that you screamed against
the minute you came out. Then you were roped in by a factory, had a machine slung
around your neck, and then you were hooked up by the arse with a wife.

Arthur is very much the representative figure of nihilism. He's no idealist; he doesn't
yearn for a better world. He simply hates the present system and wants to see it
destroyed.