Alienation (Junior Cert English): Revision Notes

Alienation

• Kasienka feels alone in her new school. She feels like an outsider because she comes from a different country. "I knew I'd be different, Foreign"

• She is often excluded by other students. She is placed in a class with younger kids because of her limited English. Even the Polish boys in her class make her feel isolated because of their inappropriate behaviour. "The brown children play with the white children; the black children play with the brown children … I'm not welcome to play. The reason: I'm too white"

• Kasienka struggles to connect with her peers. She feels different and cannot relate to her classmates. "I thought maybe I'd be exotic... like a red squirrel among the grey. But I am not an English girl in Gdansk. I'm a Pole in Coventry"

  • Kasienka's language barrier adds to her alienation. Her difficulty with the language makes it harder for her to connect with others. "I don't read well in English. That is all I can't do"

• She faces isolation at home. Kasienka feels alone because her mother is too focused on work and finding Tata. Mama is often lost in her own grief. Mostly due to being abandoned by her husband and then because of Kanoro moving to London. She takes her grief out on Kasienka. "I wouldn't have known What to do with Mama When she came home All mixed up, Like the letters in the Scrabble bag, Carrying with her a terrible sadness And showing it off so Unashamedly."