The Only Story: Worksheet 2

Classroom Activity: Analyzing The Only Story Using Chat GPT

Worksheet 2

1. Explain the quotation from Julain Barnes’s novel ‘The Only Story’:

“Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less? That is, I think, finally, the only real question. You may point out – correctly – that it isn’t a real question.  Because we don’t have the choice. If we had the choice, then there would be a question. But we don’t, so there isn’t. Who can control how much they love? If you can control it, then it isn’t love. I don’t know what you call it instead, but it isn’t love.”

Response:

This quote from Julian Barnes' novel "The Only Story" is a reflection on the nature of love and the lack of control one has over it. The speaker is suggesting that the only real question about love is whether it is better to love deeply and suffer greatly, or to love less and suffer less. However, the speaker also acknowledges that this is not a real question because one does not have the choice of how much they love someone. If one could control the intensity of their love, it would not be true love. (Chat GPT)

2. Who is Uncle Humphrey? How / why is this minor character significant in the novel?

Response:

Uncle Humphrey is a minor character in Julian Barnes' novel "The Only Story." He is the uncle of the narrator's love interest and is described as a man who sexually abused the narrator's love interest when she was a child. This character is significant in the novel because he represents the trauma and hurt that the narrator's love interest has experienced in her past, and serves as a reminder of the impact that sexual abuse can have on a person's life. Additionally, the mention of Uncle Humphrey in the context of an afterlife and a "bridge party" highlights the idea that there may not be justice in this world or the next, and underscores the themes of injustice and the lack of control over one's life and experiences. (Chat GPT)

3. While applying Gerard Genet’s tool of ‘Duration’ in narratology, how can we explain the narrative time and discourse time in Julian Barnes’s ‘The Only Story’?

Narrative Time: Unknown 

Discourse Time: Distant to the recent past,

4. Write brief note on the narrative pattern with its thematic & postmodernist significance:

Write a brief note on the narrative pattern with its thematic & postmodernist significance:
	Significant Point in Narrative Pattern	Thematic & Postmodernist Significance
1	Unreliable Narrator	Falsifying own arguments
2	Classical Narration	The novel doesn't fit into the classical definition of a novel given by Samuel Johnson
3	Drifting Narration	Narration is jumping from 1st person to 3rd person; it becomes hard to comprehend and believe

5. Is Julian Barnes’s ‘The Only Story’ more on suffering than on love? Explain with the help of Greek etymological meaning of ‘passion’ which means ‘suffering’.

The Greek word for "passion" is "pathos," which is rooted in the word "paskhein," meaning "to suffer." This etymology highlights the connection between love and suffering in "The Only Story." The novel is centered around the protagonist's love affair with a much older woman and how it unfolds over the years. This relationship brings both joy and pain to the protagonist and can be seen as an example of how love and suffering are intertwined.

The narrative follows the protagonist as he navigates the ups and downs of the relationship, encountering challenges and hardships along the way. Through his experiences, Barnes explores the idea that love can bring both happiness and suffering, and that the two are often intertwined. The novel suggests that even in the midst of great joy, there is often a corresponding sense of pain or loss, and that this is part of the human experience of love. Ultimately, "The Only Story" is a meditation on the nature of love, and how it is both a source of happiness and a cause of suffering. (Chat GPT)

	How would you prove that Julian Barnes’s ‘The Only Story’ is a memory novel?
	Imp point in the trajectory	Illustrations from the novel
1	Trauma	Susan's Childhood traumatic exp.
2	Only Story	At the beginning of the novel, Paul is falsifying his own claims
3	Conversation with a fellow in his forties	Birds fly away, they always shit on your shoulder
4	Narration	Paul as a 70-year-old man is narrating the novel

7. How do you explain ‘rescue fantasy’? [Browse the novel with this keyword. Read and explain]

"Rescue Fantasy" refers to the idea or desire to save or rescue someone from their difficult circumstances, and is often associated with romantic love. The novel "The Only Story" by Julian Barnes explores this concept through the relationship between the protagonist, Paul, and Susan, an older woman who he falls in love with when he is a teenager. Throughout the book, Paul is driven by the "rescue fantasy" of saving Susan from her unhappy marriage and unhappy life, and he tries to fill the role of her "knight in shining armor." However, as the relationship progresses and the two face various challenges, Paul learns that real love and happiness cannot be achieved through simple rescue fantasies and that there are limits to what one person can do to save another. (Chat GPT)

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Worksheet 1: The Only Story: Classroom Activity

Worksheet 3