1
The Mark by Edith Bulbring
INDEX:
1. Genre, themes & plot. 1
2. Style, setting, narration & characters 2
3. THE MONSTER 4
4. COWBOY 9
5. DRUDGE SCHOOL 12
6. READER 17
7. POSH TROUBLE 22
8. THE FESTIVAL 24
9. The Riot 26
10. THE EXPERIMENT 27
11. GRADUATION 29
12. THE PLAN 31
PART TWO
13. THE DRUDGES 33
14. THE PARTY 35
15. THE TRIAL 37 Plot:
16. The trial is a mockery of justice 38
17 PORRIDGE 40 The plot is divided into two
18. THE LABATORY 41 parts and spans a period
19. APPLE JUICE 44 of one year. Part One is
20. DEATHBED CONFESSION 45 introduced with an
21. THE PROCEDURE 47
22. GOLDEN GOOSE 48
epigraph and has 10
23. THE MACHINE 50 chapters. The main
24. THE JOURNEY 50 characters and conflicts
25. EPILOGUE 52 are established in this
section. Part Two has 11
Essay Questions: chapters and ends with an
• Dystopian settings often provide a backdrop for exploring resistance
epilogue after Chapter 21
and the human spirit’s resilience.
• Edyth Bulbring has created a main character who is both deceitful and
appealing
• CHAPTER 16
Discuss the various kinds of conflict in this extract
Genre:
Science fiction.
This literary genre includes stories that take place in the future or in other parts of the universe. It
makes use of imaginative scientific knowledge about actual or expected scientific marvels. The
diction in a science fiction novel includes words that the author has created to support the fact
that the story is set in the future.
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Style:
Diction sets the mood of the novel. In the first sentence of the novel we read that a man 'flails' in
the water and he is 'thrashing' the sea. An atmosphere of violence and ominous events is
established immediately. Diction supports the science fiction genre and the futuristic setting. The
author has created many terms for the novel's futuristic society. Refer to page 291 of your copy of
the novel for the complete list. In the epigraph the first term is introduced: Juliet is a 'drudge',
which roughly translates to a skivvy – someone who has to do all the unpleasant tasks
Themes: Narration:
Some of the issues that are The Mark is told by the main character Juliet
explored in the novel are Social Seven, who is generally known as Ettie in the
injustice, Friendship and love and novel. As you read the story, you will become
Appearance versus reality. emotionally involved with this character because
you will learn all her thoughts. She tells you
everything about herself and you react to the
other characters as she does. However, she
often withholds information about herself and her
Setting: true feelings from the other characters. The
reader is in a privileged position, because we
This science fiction novel is set know what she does not tell the others.
in the future, 264 PC, to be
exact. The events take place
in Slum City and Mangeria Characters:
City. A dystopia is a futuristic,
imagined world in which Juliet Seven is the main character or protagonist. She was
oppressive groups control three days old when she was sent from the birthing station to
society and the impression of live with the orphan warden in Slum City. She is led to believe
a perfect society is upheld that her parents are dead. She uses harsh and unkind words
through business, to describe herself, like 'dead-brain'. She is often also
governmental, technological, described by others in unfriendly terms: 'a grubby beach troll',
moral or autocratic control. ‘slimy Spaghetti', 'a rubbish’ 'scum'. In addition to the
Dystopias, through an character referred to above, make sure you know the
exaggerated worst-case importance of all the other characters.
scenario, criticise a present
trend, social norm or political
system.
PC (post-conflagration):
A conflagration is a large
destructive fire that threatens
human and animal life, health
and property.
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The social structure is hierarchical and unequal: at the top are the privileged and
pampered Posh, with the Mangerians being an elite power group within that elite
group. Right at the bottom are the Rejects, callously thrown onto the dumps to fend for
themselves, without any support from society. In the middle are the traders, groups of
people allocated a trade at birth according to a proportional system, but not being
able to enter the Mangerian class. The traders have no choice about their trades and
no means to better their lives. Some trades are worse than others in terms of physical
abuse, such as the Pulaks whose working lives will be no more than 6 years.
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Kitty
Kitty illustrates one motive for rebellion: her
parents are imprisoned for organising a
protest against fate-mates, and die terribly,
and she herself is brutally tortured as a child.
She joins the movement to get revenge. The
novel shows that the desire for revenge can
be very powerful. Those in power suppress
opposition brutally but must face the
consequences.
When she is older, Kitty is more idealistic: her motives are to create a better society. Her
character shows that those who fight for freedom for all can pose a danger to the
power structure of an elite. She supports Xavier’s efforts and returns to her group
(Extract B) even when she has the chance to escape. Kitty serves to illustrate the idea
of self-sacrifice for the good of the greater number.
In operating as a spy, Kitty acts out apart from the age of seven. Her character and
actions develop the theme that appearances can be deceptive. Kitty deceives
everyone who is not a fellow member of the movement. She pretends to Ettie out of
concern that Ettie is not associated with her, and she deceives everyone else,
particularly the men mentioned in extract A, in order to collect information.
_____________________________________________________
PART ONE The science fiction genre is
Epigraph: a short statement or
quotation at the beginning of a established immediately with the
chapter or book date, 264 PC (post-conflagration, or
after the fire which destroyed much
of the earth and its capacity to
sustain the population).
Part one begins with an epigraph.
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My name is Juliet Seven. The date is 264 PC. This year, I am going to wipe out my father and my sister.
And then I will off myself. The Machine will record that I lived for fifteen years, worked as a drudge, and
that my last address was Room 33, Section D, Slum City. Everything I do this year was spoken of before I
existed. And it will be written in the blood of those who survive me. (p. 43)
The reference to “The Machine” also shows the reader that The narrative voice is first person: the
the book is set in a technologically-advanced society, where speaker tells us her name is Juliet Seven
people’s lives are tracked by a Machine that seems and she speaks in the first person.
omniscient (all-knowing).
Finally, the mood of this epigraph is ominous (threatening, suggesting that something bad is
going to happen). Juliet plans to kill her father, her sister, and herself (“off myself” is slang for
committing suicide). The mention of blood in the final sentence also creates an ominous
mood.
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1. THE MONSTER
Synopsis Handler Xavier causes panic on the beach so that, when everyone flees (runs
away in fright), their belongings can be stolen by girls like Kitty and Juliet, who is called
Ettie. A Locust attempts to stop Kitty, but Ettie distracts him by pretending to have a fit.
After the curfew siren, Ettie returns to Section O in Slum City where she shares a room
with Kitty. Handler Xavier takes the credits they have stolen and tells them to take the
items to Cowboy in the market. Ettie hides a book she has stolen under a paver (paving
stone).
The Locust abuses his position, using
The main characters threatening language and physical
strength. Those in authority abuse their
In chapter 1, the reader is introduced to the main power/are corrupt for their own benefit..
character, Ettie, and three other important
characters: Handler Xavier, Kitty, and the Locust, who is Nicolas, the young man Ettie
has a romantic relationship with later in the novel.
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Handler Xavier
The reader may view Handler Xavier as a hypocritical opportunist who has dealings with
the Posh to enrich himself. He may be condemned for his corruption and selfish
exploitation of the situation.
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