Going Places

Chapter Summary

A.R. Barton in his story “Going Places” is a glimpse of fantasies or daydreams. In this story A.R. Barton portrays the teenage period in such a wide canvas when the boys and girls are dreaming of their future life and made fantasies about everything. Teenagers have no sense of reality and they are fascinated by achieving their goals though it is sometimes impossible for them. At their age, they look up like a hero and the principal fact of this story is meeting then with reality. The story is all about a girl named Sophie. She belonged to a lowermiddle- class family and she was dreaming about owning the best boutique all over the city. Though she hardly has money as well as a means, she was dreaming of her boutique passionately. She looks up to Danny Casey who was a young football player. Sophie was dreaming so much that she felt that she has actually met him and these fantasies ultimately became the cause of her disappointment.

Differences between Sophie and Jansie

Sophie and Jansie were completely different from each other. Sophie was fully a dreamer and fascinated with creating a new world for herself through her imagination. Sophie belonged to a working class status and continuously pushed her to achieve her ambition. Jansie was just opposite and she is more practical. The sensibilities, as well as maturity, always remind others what they actually were.

Describe the character and temperament of Sophie’s father.

The father of Sophie has a plump face and looked like grimy and sweaty. He is not at all a soft or sophisticated man. She was very afraid of her father’s aggressive manliness as he did not believe his daughter’s wild stories. He was very much fascinated by the football players. So he was not at all bothered about the dream of her daughter’s dream to open a boutique in the city.

Sophie’s liking for her brother Geoff more than any other person

Sophie was more like her brother, Geoff, than any others as he did not talk much with others. Her brother was completely lost in his own thoughts. Sophie envied his silence as well as he thought that he can manage the entire unknown world. She was fascinated about wearing glamorous. Sophie and Geoff the two brothers and sister were eagerly waiting for free life and to get rid of their monotonous life.

Socio-Economic Background of Sophie

Sophie was a girl of a lower middle-class family and was an escapist who was eagerly running to fulfil her wild dreams. She was not living in real life and her brother told her that she need a lot of money to start a boutique. The occupation of her brother fully reflected their socioeconomic background but their father completely lacks sophistication. Their father was fitted in the circumstances and he thought that his son and daughter were fascinated about their future life. They did not want that their children were running to their false dream. Their house interior indicated their lower middle-class family background. Their father was like a heavy breathing man who just only sat in a vest at the table. The dirty washing clothes were piles on a side of their room and besides this, a stove was kept.

“Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind.” Discuss the statement.

The story is all about Sophie’s dreams as well as the disappointments that were all in her life. She is a young school-girl who belonged to a lower-middle-class family. She was always trying to upgrade their economic as well as social status. She was an incurable dreamer as well as an escapist.

Jansie was her classmate who was just opposite her and was more mature and sensible than her. She dreamt of becoming an actress or a fashion designer and she was also very much fascinated by Danny Casey who was a wonder-boy of football to her . She even dreamed that one day he came and told her brother to meet Sophie. She was waiting for that day and wished soon the day would come. Besides this, she was always sad because of her burden of family pressure and the aggressiveness of her father.

It is natural for teenagers to have unrealistic dreams. What would you say are the benefits and disadvantages of such fantasising?

Teenagers refer to boundless enthusiasm along with high ambitions and they are very possessive about their fascination. Through it is natural for them without any dreams the young generation does not progress. The principal aspect of this generation is to strive to achieve that goal. Through, they are always in a world of fantasy and sometimes their dreams are unreal.

This generation lives on the earth but they dream of the stars in the sky. Sometimes these fantasizing results become the cause of their disappointment and disillusionment. Some teenagers are very mature and sensible compared to others as they belong to a lower middle-class family and they have to face several obstacles in their life to progress. Their dreams cannot be related to grey-headed and grey-bearded persons and they are also dreaming of a golden future though they are in natural activity.

FAQs

Q1. What are teenagers dreaming for?

Ans. Teenagers are dreaming of a fascinating life in which they will act like a hero. They are always fascinated by the up gradation of their economic as well as social status but sometimes reality does not support them to fulfil their dream. They are very passionate about their dream and face several obstacles to meet them.

Q2. What are fantasies?

Ans. Fantasies are all about the imagination of a person that he/she dreams. The fantasies have concentrated on imaginary elements and they can be supernatural, alternate worlds, superheroes as well as monsters. The fantasies mainly depend on personal thoughts as well as their perspectives.

Q3. Is the title of the story justified?

Ans. In the story Going Places the writer talked about the different issues in teenagers’ dream and here he portrayed the life journey of some teenagers who are very passionate about their dream. The title Going Places refers to going towards the dream or fascinating lifestyle that is portrayed all over the story. Therefore, it can be said that the title of this story is fully justified.