The Weight of Water

Learning Objective:
1. To think about what we learn from
the opening of ‘The Weight of
Water’ by Sarah Crossan.
• For the opening of The Weight of Water, use
pages 3 and 9, the first three chapters.
 Aspects of the Opening
Remember in the opening of any novel the
following are established:
1. Narrative Style
2. Setting
3. Plot
4. Characterisation
5. Relationships
6. Theme
2. First Person Narration
3. Descriptive Language
 Narrative Style
Free Verse Poetry
• The opening chapters of ‘The Weight of Water’ are immediately engaging and unique given
that the novel is a NARRATIVE written in a series of FREE-VERSE POEMS exploring themes
such as immigration, prejudice, families and first love.
• This format creates a fast paced, conversational, striking and often LYRICAL form as Crossan
uses poetic devices and varied line lengths to create vivid scenes: “Bang, crack, rattle - / No
more use. / There are / plastic bits/ everywhere.”
First Person narrative
• The novel is written using FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE through the voice of our
PROTAGONIST Kasienka. This approach creates an atmosphere of trust between the reader
and narrator as Kasienka openly and honestly confides her thoughts, feelings and
reflections in a form similar to a diary. The intimate mood immediately engages the reader,
encouraging them to invest in the character of Kasienka and to go on a journey with her.
 Setting
• In the opening chapters of this novel we travel with the protagonist from Poland,
through Stansted airport, to arrive in a bedsit in Coventry.
• Crossan challenges our assumptions and prejudices about immigrants by making
the LIVING CONDITIONS of Kasienka and her mother in England inferior to what
we imagine their living conditions in Poland to have been.
• The irony is heightened when Kasienka tells us that the building reminds her of,
“black and white photographs / Of bombed / out / villages,” which is how we
might imagine a scene from war-torn Eastern Europe.
• Kasienka is so shocked by the, “dirty,” ENVIRONMENT beside the, “droning traffic,”
that she thinks affirmatively that they can’t live there.
• The lack of hygiene is confirmed when Ola boils the kettle twice.
• The lyrical description of Ola looking at her tea and, “staring into its blackness,” can
be read as metaphorical for their situation. It is clear that Kasienka and Ola are
used to a much cleaner and more pleasant environment at home.
• In terms of the SOCIAL VALUES of where and when they are living, these details
tell us of how IMMIGRANTS are treated in the society.
Plot
 Plot
KEY CONFLICT - CHANGE IN DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES
• There are several tensions driving the plot but they all centre around the fact that
Kasienka and her mother have left everything and everyone familiar to them in
Poland to come to England with very little money and few possessions, in search of
Kasienka’s father, Tata, who abandoned them.
• This conflict is further complicated by both their lack of financial resources and
their lack of information as they have no forwarding address; problems which
Kasienka is acutely aware of. Not only is she aware of their financial situation but
also the fact that their poverty is apparent to others, which causes her
embarrassment which she voices only to the reader as she describes how, “At
baggage reclaim / The laundry bag / Coasts around the carousel / And people
look.”
• Further tension exists in the sense that Kasienka is unable to speak openly to her
mother about the emotional upheaval she is going through. This encourages the
reader to see her as lonely and isolated, intensifying our sympathy for her.
 Characterisation - Kasienka
• As a Polish immigrant who journeys from her
home town to Coventry at the novel’s
opening, our first impressions of Kasienka
encourage us to EMPATHISE with her. She is
shown to be a SENSITIVE girl who is very
aware of her mother’s struggles: physical,
financial and emotional. She is described by
her mother to be a, “good girl,” and we get the
impression that Kasienka is on the cusp of
ASOLESCENCE as she tells us that she is, “too
old for holding hands.”
Kasienka is also an ASTUTE and WITTY girl who is aware of the
reality of their situation. She wryly comments that there is,
“Nothing as romantic as a view of / Lady Liberty,” to welcome
them to Stansted.
She is AWARE of her ALIENATION in this strange country and
we are encouraged to empathise with her as she tells us that
speaking English, “makes [her] tummy turn,” as she prepares
to pass through customs.
We are also led to admire Kasienka when she SHOWS
MATURITY in her understanding of her mother leaving the
laundry bag on the carousel at the airport because of pride.
In addition, while she is DISMAYED by the living conditions of
their rented room she SAYS NOTHING more than, “It’s just
one room,” knowing that she would upset her mother if she
were to speak aloud her thought of, “we can’t live here.”
Relationships
 Relationships
• We are given an insight into the relationship between
Kasienka and her mother Ola which is going through a process
of CHANGE for a number of reasons. There is UNSPOKEN
TENSION between mother and daughter due to the fact that
Ola has moved them both from everything familiar to an
unpleasant and difficult situation: “Mama found the perfect
home for / A cast-off laundry bag. / Yes. / But not a home for
us.”
• There is also the beginnings of a shift in their relationship due
to the fact that Kasienka is going through the rite of passage
of GROWING UP. While her mother seems to see her as the
compliant unquestioning, “good girl,” the reader can see that
Kasienka is an intelligent girl with opinions of her own. She
knows for instance when her mother calls the dirty room in,
“a crumbling building,” a, “studio,” that, “a word can[‘t]
change the truth.”
• Despite the distance we see between them in these opening chapters, however, we
also sense that there is a close historical BOND, LOVE AND LOYALTY. Kasienka seems
to be aware of her mother’s vulnerability as she struggles with their luggage. She is
PROTECTIVE as she observes that, “It’s hard for Mama / With everyone watching.”
She is also SENSITIVE to the fact that her mother is, “shy about the laundry bag,” that
they are carrying their clothes in. This protectiveness is reciprocated as Mama won’t
let Kasienka, “carry a thing.” Mama seems to rely on Kasienka however, and gives her
responsibility as she asks her to, “mind the money and the passports;” a job which
Kasienka’s father would probably have done.
• The loyalty Kasienka feels for her mother can in part be explained by the brief insight
we are given into Kasienka’s relationship with her father: “Tata took all the good
luggage / When he left us, / When he walked out / On Mama and me.” It is clear
from the tone of these lines that Kasienka is harbouring hurt and anger because of
her father’s abandonment and is aware that their current circumstances are due very
much to his actions.
 Theme - Migrants
• It is clear from the opening that we are meant to see the experience of Ola and
Kasienka as indicative of that of many immigrants. Kasienka is aware that they are
the subject of speculation, “with everyone watching.” They struggle through their
journey only to anticipate fear at customs as they, “queue / Nervously and practise
English in [their] heads.” They emerge from the airport to unfamiliar weather and
Kasienka observes how, “The air in England is swampy, / the sky a grey blanket.” It
is clear that she feels alienated in her new surroundings.
• We are told how immigrants don’t arrive by boat anymore, “Swarming wet docks
like rats,” but there is nonetheless a lack of romance in the process and we can’t
help but feel that the living conditions of Ola and Kasienka are typical of those that
many immigrants are expected to endure.
• Later in the novel we see how Kasienka’s hopes: “I thought, maybe, I’d be exotic,”
are dashed and how she witnesses and experiences racial prejudice ranging from
her being isolated by her peers to hearing of a man being physically and violently
attacked. In the opening chapters and throughout the novel Crossan explores the
harsh realities of immigration and the prejudices surrounding it.