Going Places: A. R. Barton

GOING PLACES
A. R. Barton
About The Author
Sq. Ldr. Anthony Richard Henry Barton DFC*, popularly
known as A. R. Barton, was an officer in the Royal Navy,
and later in the Royal Air Force (UK) during WW-II.
His peers knew him as sagacious and impavid pilot.
He was a decorated veteran who fought in Malta and Britain.
He was born in London on 17.XII.1913 and met with a fatal
landing accident on 4.IV.1943 in Wales, at merely twenty-
nine years of age.
Overview of The Chapter
This chapter is about a teenage girl, Sophie, who fantasizes to live a prosperous
life, in contrast to her family’s financial conditions. Undeterred by her kin’s
repeated advocation for her to think realistically, she doesn’t let her
impoverished milieu come in the way of her aspirations.
This chapter depicts the often far-fetched, but bold, desires of adolescents,
especially of those not in comfortable socio-economic circumstances. It also tells
about how they go about idolising the people who possess what they lack, and
become enraptured by even the sheer thought of the slightest interaction with
them.
List of Characters
Sophie
• The protagonist of the story.
• Adolescent girl; still in school
• Given the nickname ‘Soaf’ by Jansie, her best friend
• Is overly ambitious but not determined enough.
• Keeps shuffling her ‘ideal’ occupational preferences abruptly.
• Makes false claims to an extent that even her family refuses to believe a
word of her
Jansie
• Sophie’s best friend
• Of Sophie’s age
• Thinks in a realistic manner, unlike Sophie
• Talks Sophie out of her day-dreaming
• Isn’t deemed trustworthy enough in the eyes of Sophie to share secrets
Derek
• Sophie’s younger brother; hardly 4 y/o
Geoff
• Sophie’s elder brother; early 20’s
• An apprentice mechanic
• Hardworking young man
• Owns a motorcycle — the only one in the family
• Sets out at dawn everyday for working far away
• Is scarce with his words
• Close to Sophie; she trusts him with her secrets
Sophie’s Father
• Authoritarian old man
• Works all day and spends the night at the club
• Seldom converses
• Is very strict with Sophie
• Has forbidden Sophie from going out with her brother on the moteorcycle
• Is feared by Sophie
• Is not objected by anyone in the house
• Likes Football
Sophie’s Mother
• Old woman
• Is too busy with life to waste time
• Is fed up of Sophie’s far-fetching nature
• Doesn’t talk even once in the whole story
Tom Finney
• Veteran footballer
• Regarded higher than today’s footballers by Sophie’s father
• Knew a man who knew Sophie’s father
Danny Casey
• Young Irish footballer, playing for Manchester United
• Promising prodigy
• Revered by fans all over UK
• Has average height and green, charming, almost innocent eyes
• Is surprisingly shy
• Has a freckled nose and gaps between his teeth
• Has a melodious voice
Mary Quant
• Dame Barbara Mary Quant; British fashion designer
• Admired by Sophie for her success
Summary
This story is about a teenage girl named Sophie, who has many aspirations
to lift herself out of the poverty which she and her family currently live in.
In her family are her two brothers — Derek and Geoff — and their parents.
She has a best friend named Jansie. Jansie’s way of thinking is much more
practical and real, a polar opposite to that of Sophie’s.
The story is set in the United Kingdom, where football is a popular sport,
and Manchester United is a cult prominent football club.
The story emphasizes the ill effects of the utopian and idealistic dreams of
adolescents, and the agony after the same get shattered.
In the story, Sophie repeatedly shuffles her ambitions, from opening a boutique,
to being a manager, to being a fashion designer — anything which isn’t
traditional labour.
One day, while window shopping over at Royce’s, Sophie runs into Danny Casey,
the young Irish footballer. His appearance was not much out of the ordinary,
contrary to what one would imagine. He was of average build, and had green
eyes, along with a crooked nose and missing a few teeth. Surprisingly enough, he
was quite shy, and not an extrovert.
She was excited upon meeting such a famous person, and wanted to tell someone
about this event. However, she feared her father, and thought that he wouldn’t
believe her if she told him. Geoff, on the other hand, was very close to her, so she
mentioned this to him. At first, he laughed her off, but eventually believed her —
AND told her dad and Jansie’s brother about it.
Her father didn’t even flinch, just nodded and declared that he knew a man
who knew Tom Finney, a much more influential footballer than Casey. He
did so while sitting on the sofa and a watching T.V., almost as if he thought
that she was joking.
Geoff had also told this to Jansie’s brother.

Needless to say, Jansie came to know about
her best friend meeting a famous person,
and off she marched, to confront Sophie
about hiding such a major event from her.
Sophie realises that Geoff has spilled the
beans, and calms Jansie down; she comes to
know that Jansie doesn’t know about the
date part yet, and is relieved.
Come the D-day, and Sophie goes to the warf on a dark evening, looking
forward to meeting Danny Casey. She keeps on waiting and waiting for a
long time, but no one comes. It finally dawns upon her that Danny isn’t
coming to meet her. She is distraught. She is tensed because she can
envision that the her known ones will lose any trust left in her and will hold
this against her for the rest of their lives, but alas, there’s no way out of it.
To not feel devastated, she somehow tricks
her own subconscious mind into believing
that she did, in fact, meet Danny Casey that
day. This is a common and worrying example
of day-dreaming and fantasizing in teenagers,
who fell ‘unrecognized’ among their known
ones, and hence tend to live in fabricated
worlds of their own imagination.
Moral of The Story
This story sheds light on the prevalent issue of day-dreaming in adolescents,
often induced due to negligence from peers.
We come to learn that own should not live in a fabricated fantasy, and
instead think realistically, with a clear mind, about everything.
Lexicon
WORD MEANING
Tightening Anxiety
Chastened (of a rebuke or misfortune)
have a restraining or moderating effect on
Disdain the feeling that someone or something is
unworthy of one's consideration or respect
Reverently With deep and solemn respect
Jeered make rude and mocking remarks, typically in a
loud voice
Inquisition a period of prolonged and intensive questioning
Incongruity Incompatibility
WORD MEANING
Gawky nervously awkward and ungainly
Chuffed very pleased
Elm a tall deciduous tree that typically has rough
serrated leaves and propagates from root suckers
Envisage form a mental picture of [something not yet
existing or known]
Wharf a level quayside area to which a ship may be
moored to load and unload
Pangs sudden sharp pain or painful emotions
Despondent in low spirits from loss of hope or courage
Exultant triumphantly happy
Approbation approval or praise
Made By
Vaibhav Srivastva
XII - ‘B’ : SCIENCE
12231

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GOING PLACES

Geoff had also told this to Jansie’s brother.

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