The Tower by Marghanita Laski

RR: Would Laski be happy with the position of women in today’s society?

Symbolism:
- Tower: this is a phallic symbol that represents male domination. It symbolises the control
that men have over women in society. Her decision to climb the tower is an act of
rebellion and represents her futile attempt of seeking freedom from the control. This is a
build up of her toxic relationship with Neville as she is clearly frustrated by his ‘know it all
attitude’ and wants to escape his influence and find her own identity.
- *Neville Character Sketch: He uses knowledge to showcase his superiority and speaks
to her in a condescending manner, dictating rules and norms that help the reader see
how he acts as a barrier against her expressing individualism. ‘I would like you to start
with’, ‘dutifully’, ‘listening politely’ all show his control over her.

- Stairs → Gender Ladder: Even though Neville is not physically present when she is
climbing the tower, he still manages to control her. Her ascent of the tower is symbolic of
her climbing up the path of male domination and the gender ladder in order to be equal
to a man. Her reasoning for climbing a tower was her desperation to reach the same
level as a man and prove she could be as capable as one. However, once she finally
reaches the top she realises that nothing has changed and she is unsatisfied. She
claims it ‘was nothing great’ and ‘idiotic’ symbolising that no matter how many difficulties
a woman may encounter to be equal to a man, the situation will stay the same
fruitlessness as she will still just be a wife, dependent on her husband. The ‘broken
railing leading to hopelessness’ portrays the struggle of women to prove themselves and
the futility of their attempts at seeking freedom.

- Spiralling Staircase: This metaphorically suggests that she is simply going around in
circles and is ending up nowhere. This is the author’s representation of what it is like
trying to overcome male domination. She is doomed to be controlled by external forces
of the patriarchy. Her descent, which goes beyond the original 420 stairs, suggests that
the search for freedom is not only futile but also a trap - there is no way out of patriarchal
control.

- Urge: her impulse to ‘hurl herself’ down the tower and the idea that it ‘was looking easier
to just fall’ showed the irrational part of her mind that brought her to the realisation that
she only had 2 choices - death or to return to the patriarchal society back to Neville.

- ‘Ferromano’ → iron hand: extreme control / misogynistic control

- Fork in The Road: it symbolises the 2 options Caroline is presented with, to either go left
towards safety / comfort / control of Neville, or right, to the tower / her own rebellious
desires. This crossroads is an important symbol.

Gothic Elements / Supernatural:

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 - Parallelism and Foreshadowing of Portrait: the comparison drawn between Giovana’s
portrait and Carloine by Neville is interesting as it draws the reader's attention when they
find out Goivana’s future. Her ‘virginal radiance’ surprises Caroline yet Neville remarks
that the 2 are quite similar. The ‘thin white face’ and ‘deep-set black eyes’ seem
ghost-like and have an air of mystery surrounding them. The mystery is further built by
the unknown cause of her death. The foreshadowing urges the reader to wonder what
might happen to Caroline as the story continues. The author attempts to convey the
thought that a woman’s fate, even all these years later, is the same and connects women
from different times. The stairs, which exceed the 420 they were supposed to be, evoke
horror and also link back to Giovana as she too was ‘lost’. Decades may pass, but
women face the same challenges.

- Freedom and Control: these ideas are explored through the gothic elements of the story
such as the architecture - the ‘low ceiling’ which highlights the control and
claustrophobia, the ‘narrow’ platform at the top which is dangerous and represents the
false illusion of freedom (she realises there is no freedom, instead death). The repetition
of the word ‘narrow’ creates a sense of imminent danger and unease and shows the
reader how dangerous one wrong move could be for Caroline.

- Connection to the Tower of Sacrifice: the superstition about the tower in the village is
ominous as the ledge on top is for suicide as it is easy to fall off from. It can be
interpreted that the journey is a sacrifice which will not give one a reward, but instead it
is sacrificing herself to society.

- *black magic and witchcraft : look into this

- Ambiguous Ending: The author makes use of a cliff-hanger at the end of the story which
makes the reader wonder what happened to Caroline. Both Caroline and Giovanna die
in the vain attempt of escaping the presence and control of their dominating husbands.

Movement of Time:
- Counting of steps ‘four and five’ is as if time is ticking, mimicking heartbeat
- The number of steps on the descent exceeds the number of steps going up and this
evokes horror and a sense of doom.
- Alliteration of ‘timeless time’
- Dashes in dialogue while counting stairs and how she is slowly losing her chain of
thought and mind.

Characterisation:
- Caroline is a good person dealing with internal conflict of her ego versus her insecurities.
The voice of reason in her head was urging her to go back; however the irrational part of
her pushed her to go on, fulfilling the constant desire to prove herself. The only way of
being satisfied is death because going back will end with her being under Neville’s
control again. She is bold and brave for enduring the struggle to make it to the top of the

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 tower and while the journey may be futile, it does show the capability women have. The
point the author tries to make is that even though women are equally capable as men, it
will not change their position in society.

- Neville is a pompous and domineering man who is desperate to prove his intellectual
superiority over his wife and those around him. Caroline constantly feels the need to
‘have something of her own to contribute’ as she wants to prove herself to him. His
needs take importance over hers, and he views her as subservient to him. She plays the
role of a ‘British council wife’, however her true feelings are suppressed.

- In a way, her peril is at his hands, even though he was not physically present. She
climbs the Tower to prove a point to him, and this results in her death eventually.