JULY 2014 (Tuniz Giorgia) 

p. 223: “ I can run you home at half-time, he says. [...]  Am I in your way? she says. No, not at all. You just seem sleepy. Can I have some of your Coke? He hands her the glass and she sits up to drink it, feeling like a baby. [...] You’re thirsty, he says. There’s more downstairs in the fridge if you want some.”

COMMENT: In this part of the test Connell seems to be worried about Marianne’s conditions of enjoying the night together. He wants her to feel comfortable so,after seeing her quite sleepy, he’s just proposed to run her back home so that she could rest. He seems like feeling unsure and anxious about her being bored but at the same time, when he proposed her to go home, he probably deeped hope her to say no because undoubtedly he needs her presence in his life but he is afraid of showing it clearly. After, when she asks him for some Coke, he served her with his glass. From the point of view of Marianne, the narrator let the reader understand that she felt like a baby who needs to be feed and it underlines that he has an high regard for her but he also seems like performing as a parent who takes care of his child. This is also highlighted by the fact that he proposes her something more to drink if she was thirstier. 

p. 224: “Where did you disappear to last night? she says. Oh. I don’t know, I was in the smoking area for a bit. Did you end up kissing that girl? No, he says.”

COMMENT: here Connell wants to reassure Marianne about have kissed another girl. It just seems like he wants her to know that he is not interested in other girls who are not her but it is not clearly said because he is not really able to express his feelings using words. 

p. 224: “He’s working in the college library this summer, but he’s visited Carricklea every weekend since she got home. [...] Last month she told him he shouldn’t feel obliged to visit her if he doesn’t feel like it, and he replied tonelessly: Well, it’s really the only thing I have to look forward to.” 

COMMENT: He wants her to know that he really wants to see her every week and he is not annoyed or like obliged to come from Dublin for her. Since Connell is not very good at express his feelings with words, he does it with small gestures which apparently seem insignificant or predictable, but they mean a lot for him.

p. 228: “You know I love you. He didn’t say anything else. She said she loved him too and he nodded  and continued driving as if nothing at all had happened, which is a way it hadn’t.” 

COMMENT: When Connell said to Marianne he loved her, he did not simply said “I love you” but he said “You know I love you” like he wanted to remind her of his feelings but at the same time probably he does not want to seem too serious not to burden the moment. 

p. 235: “He reaches for her hand and she gives it to him without thinking. For a second he holds it, his thumb moving over her knuckles. Then he lifts her hand to his mouth and kissed it. [...] He puts his hands on her lips and she lets him kiss her open mouth.[...] She is an abyss that he can reach into, an empty space for him to fill.”

COMMENT: In this part of the novel it is shown how Connell, trying to express his feelings, he uses his body rather than his words. Through his body language the reader can clearly understand that there is a really strong sexual attraction between them.