English project

2. INDEX
1. About the Author
2. Introduction
3. Characters
4. Theme of the story
5. Background of the story
6. Summary
7. Gist of the lesson

3. GOING PLACES
-A.R.BARTON

4. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
• A. R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in
Zurich and writes in English.
• In the story Going Places, Barton explores
the theme of adolescent fantasising and
hero worship.

5. INTRODUCTION
• The story revolves around a teenage girl Sophie, her family and
friends.
• She is a daydreamer, who is always lost in her dreams of
becoming rich and sophisticated though in reality she is a
worker at biscuit factory.
• The story suddenly twists up when Sophie make a wild
imagination of meeting Danny Casey, a famous footballer.
• She also makes a story in front of her brother that Casey will
come to meet her on a fixed day as per a promise he made to
her.

6. CHARACTERS
1. Sophie: a school going teenager
2. Jansie: a friend and classmate of Sophie
3. Geoff: an elder brother of Sophie
4. Derek: a younger brother of Sophie
5. Danny Casey: A young Irish football player
6. Tom Finney: A great football player
7. United: name of the football team
8. Father & mother of Sophie

7. THEME OF THE STORY
• The short story “Going Places” explores the hopes and desires of young people as
well as the anguish of broken dreams and unfulfilled promises.
• Along with the teenage fantasising and hero-worship, it deals with the intricacies
of human relationships.
• This story’s central theme is hero worship and teenage fantasies.
• Teenagers often have irrational expectations, especially if their families are
struggling.
• This is due to the fact that a young person’s socioeconomic background has a
significant impact on the job they choose to pursue.

8. BACKGROUND OF THE STORY
• The story revolves around a teenage girl Sophie, her family
and friends.
• She is a daydreamer, who is always lost in her dreams of
becoming rich and sophisticated though in reality she is a
worker at biscuit factory.
• The story suddenly twists up when Sophie make a wild
imagination of meeting Danny Casey, a famous footballer.
• She also makes a story in front of her brother that Casey will
come to meet her on a fixed day as per a promise he made
to her.

9. SUMMARY
• Sophie and Jansie are two teenagers who are coming back from
school. They both work in a biscuit factory.
• Sophie is lost in her imagination of owning a boutique shop and
becoming famous like Mary Quaint, a fashion designer.
• Jansie tells her not to dream big as it requires lots of money which
they don’t have.
• To this she replies that she will become an actress, earn a lot and
then own a boutique.
• Jansie being a realistic person does not support her thoughts.
• On reaching home Sophie feels choked in that small house which is
full of the stove’s steam and looks untidy because of the dirty
dishes.

10. • Her father is eating and her mother is busy in the kitchen.
• She goes to meet her elder brother Geoff, who is a trainee
mechanic and is busy repairing some motorcycle part.
• Geoff talks very less about his personal life which made her
imagine of his personal life which she considers very interesting
and wants to be part of it.
• She shares a secret with him that she met Danny Casey the
famous footballer in a boutique. Her brother and her father do
not believe her.
• But she tries to make them believe this. She also tells her
brother about her date with Casey

11. • All of them feel so overjoyed.
• When Sophie returns home with her little brother Derek, Jansie questions her about the
questions her about the reality behind her meeting with Danny Casey.
• Sophie gets angry with her brother because of letting her secret out but tries to handle
tries to handle the situation and succeeds.
• She then visits a secret place near a canal to meet her hero Casey who doesn’t show up.
doesn’t show up.
• She knows that it was just her imagination but she was so lost in his love that she doesn’t
love that she doesn’t want to come out of this.
• In the end she returns back to her home with sadness in her heart.
• But when she comes across the Royce’s boutique, she again finds herself lost in her
herself lost in her hero’s dreams.

12. GIST OF THE LESSON
• The lesson explores the theme of adolescent fantasies and hero
worship.
• Sophie and Jansie are both in the last year of high school and both
knew that they were destined to work in the biscuit factory as they
belong to a working class family.
• Yet, Sophie, always dreams of big and beautiful things, glamour and
glory. 94
• Her ambitions are not rooted in reality i.e., have no relation with the
harsh realities of life.
• In contrast is Jansie, Sophie’s friend, a realistic and practical girl.

13. • Sophie lives in male-dominated family where her mother was
only a shadow. The men were football fans and the
conversations around the dinner table were about Danny
Casey, their Hero.
• Sophie wants some attention from her father and brother and
telling them that she met Casey, was her way of drawing their
attention towards her.
• But she carries her fantasies too far when she starts to live
them.

14. THANK YOU!