Comparative Studies – Cultural Context



|Texts: |‘Sive’ by John B. Keane |‘I’m Not Scared” (INS) Gabriele Salvatores |

|Paragraph Introductions |Comparisons and |Contrasts |

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|Par. 2 – Negative family |The Glavins are not a close family |The Amitranos seem to be a very close family |

|relationships:The family relationships| | |

|in both texts are very complicated and|Hostility between Nanna and Mena is obvious from |Tension between Pino and his wife and son exists |

|cause problems for the key characters.|the start of the play (Examples?) |but it is not very obvious at the start of the |

|Neither the Glavins nor the Amitranos | |film. |

|seem like a normal family. There is | | |

|constant quarreling and argument in |There is very little peace in the Gavin family | |

|both households and the dysfunctional |and this only gets worse when Mena decides to |The Amitrano's life seems quite peaceful but this |

|parental attitudes in "Sive" and "INS"|marry Sive off to Sean Dota. |shattered by their involvement in Filippo's |

|have serious consequences for both | |kidnapping. |

|Sive and Michele. |The proposed marriage causes huge tension and | |

| |arguing amongst the family (E.g. Mike vs. Mena; |The kidnapping causes enormous tension and stress |

| |Nanna vs. Mena; Mike vs. Nanna) |in the Amitrano house. Anna is afraid to argue with|

| | |her husband so she takes it out on Michele |

| |Mike and Mena are supposed to take care of Sive |(Examples?) |

| |but they abandon her, essentially putting her up | |

| |for sale. |Pino and Anna are supposed to take care of Michele |

| | |and Maria but they neglect them while focusing on |

| | |the kidnapping. |

| |Mena controls Sive by isolating and manipulating | |

| |her (Examples?) |Pino attempts to control Michele by threatening to |

| | |beat him senseless if he goes back to the hole |

| | |where Filippo is being kept. |

| |Mena and Mike fail in their parental duties | |

| |towards Sive. |Pino and Anna fail in their parental duties towards|

| | |Michele. |

|Par. 3 – Portrayal of Marriage: |Mike and Mena are the key example of marriage in |Pino and Anna are the key example of marriage in |

|Marriage should be the ideal |"Sive". |"INS". |

|relationship in society - two people | | |

|coming together by choice to love each|Their marriage isn’t grounded in love. They are |Their marriage does seem to have some basis in |

|other and raise a family together. |together because Mike needed a wife and Mena |love. However, it is clear that Anna is afraid of |

|However, marriage is portrayed in an |needed to escape her father's house. |her husband. |

|incredibly negative and cynical way in|Marriage is not equal - Mena bosses her husband | |

|both "Sive" and "INS". The quest for |around and gets her own way. |Marriage is not equal - Pino bosses Anna around and|

|money and power overrides the | |gets his own way. |

|traditional notions of love associated|Marriage doesn't seem to bring Mike or Mena any | |

|with marriage. |happiness and the bleak outlook on marriage is | |

| |further shown through Sean Dota's attempted |The outlook on marriage is not as bleak in "INS". |

| |purchase of Sive. |However, it seems as if marriage brings Amma no |

| | |happiness at all anymore. |

|Par.4 – Positive Family Relationships:|The only positive family relationship in “Sive” |The only positive family relationship in “INS” is |

|Although the family relationships in |is between Sive and Nanna. |between Michele& Maria. |

|both “Sive” and “INS” can be difficult| | |

|and stressful, both texts show some | | |

|hope and positivity in family |Nanna tries to take care of Sive (Examples? … she|Michele tries to take care of Maria (Examples? … |

|relationships also. While these |covers for Sive and Liam when they sneak out) |helps when she falls/looks for her glasses etc.) |

|relationships bring joy and comfort to| | |

|the key characters they cannot |Sive turns to Nanna for comfort when she is upset|Michele cannot turn to Maria for comfort when he |

|ultimately help them with their |about her mother or her situation with Liam. |discovers Filippo because she doesn’t know the |

|problems, for differing reasons. | |secret. |

| |This is a loving relationship but it is attacked | |

| |when Mena forces them apart, afraid of their |Michele and Maria have a loving relationship but it|

| |closeness. |is put under pressure because Michele doesn’t want |

| | |to burden his younger sister with the truth about |

| |Ultimately, though she tries, Nanna is too old |their parents. |

| |and powerless to be able to really help Sive. |Although he loves his sister, Maria is too young to|

| | |understand what is going on or to really help |

| | |Michele. |

|Par. 5 – Destructive Relationships: |Mena and Thomasheen have a self-serving |Sergio and Pino in “INS” also have a self-serving |

|In spite of the hope shown in the |relationship. |relationship. |

|positive family relationships that | | |

|exist in both texts, it is negative |They don’t appear to care for one another at all,|The two men definitely don’t like each other at all|

|relationships that have the biggest |they simply use each other to get what they each |and often argue but they stick together to try to |

|influence on the plot. In both “Sive” |want – money. |make money. |

|and “INS” there are self-serving | | |

|relationships that bring destruction | | |

|and misery to all those around them. |They are driven purely by greed and self-interest|They are driven by greed and self-interest – |

|It is clear that selfishness and greed|– neither care that they are destroying Sive’s |neither care that Filippo is physically neglected |

|of a few can bring great unhappiness |life as long as they get their money. |and mentally tortured as long as they get their |

|to many. | |money. |

| |Innocent characters suffer because of this | |

| |destructive relationship. (Give examples of this |Innocent characters suffer because of this toxic |

| |… Sive/Liam etc.) |relationship. (Give examples of this … |

| | |Filippo/Michele etc.) |

| |Sive is practically kept prisoner by Mena and | |

| |Thomasheen. She is forced to sleep alone, cut off|Filippo is actually kept prisoner by Pino and |

| |from her friends and is shouted down by Mena. Her|Sergio. He is cruelly being kept in a dark hole in |

| |movements are watched at all times. |the ground and is neglected in every sense. He |

| | |believes that he has died and will never see his |

| | |family again. |

|Par. 6 – Positive Personal |There is a very close relationship between Sive |There is a very close relationship between Michele |

|Relationships: |and Liam. |and Filippo. |

|The family and parental relationships | | |

|in both texts are very dysfunctional. |Sive and Liam’s relationship is romantic. The |Michele and Filippo’s relationship is based in |

|However both texts show that the |pair are in love and hope to marry one day. |friendship, rather than a romantic relationship. |

|personal relationships the characters | | |

|choose to encourage can have a hugely |There are obstacles in the way of their |There are also obstacles. Examples? (Filippo has |

|positive effect on their lives. Sive |relationship. Examples? (Mike hates Liam, Liam |been kidnapped by Michele’s parents, Michele is |

|and Filippo endure an enormous amount |has no money etc.) |forbidden to visit Filippo) |

|of suffering but the personal | | |

|relationships they have with Liam and | | |

|Michele help them attempt to overcome | | |

|their problems. Yet, sadly, it is | |Michele doesn’t let his parent’s involvement in the|

|only in one of the texts that a |Sive does not let her uncle’s views change how |kidnapping stop him from getting to know Filippo |

|positive personal relationship |she feels about Liam. |and helping him. |

|succeeds in overcoming these | | |

|difficulties. | | |

| | |Pino tries to come between Michele and Filippo’s |

| |Mena tries to destroy this relationship and turn |friendship by threatening to beat Michele senseless|

| |the two against each other by pretending Liam is |if he goes back to the hole to see Filippo. |

| |happy for Sive to marry Sean Dota. | |

| | |Michele risks his own life to try to save Filippo |

| |Though he tries to save her, the love Liam and |when it becomes clear that he is going to be shot. |

| |Sive have for each other is not enough to stop |He sneaks out to free Filippo from his prison. |

| |the arranged marriage and Sive chooses to kill | |

| |herself rather than marry Sean Dota. | |

| | |Michele successfully saves Filippo from being |

| |Liam cannot save Sive and the positive |killed. This is a truly positive relationship. If |

| |relationship they have cannot overcome the |it were not for Michele’s kindness and bravery, |

| |destruction that Mena and Thomasheen have caused.|Filippo would have been killed. |

|Par. 7 – Suffering in |Liam and Nana suffer greatly trying to put a stop|Michele suffers trying to help save Filippo without|

|Relationships/Conclusion: |to Sive’s marriage. |his parents realising. |

|Ultimately the biggest similarity in | | |

|both texts is the incredible suffering|Sive suffers the loss of Liam and kills herself |Filippo suffers the loss of his parents and home, |

|and conflict relationships can cause |never knowing that he tries to rescue and marry |as well as severe mental suffering, believing he is|

|people. Even though Sive and Liam’s |her. |dead. |

|love was true, and even though Michele| | |

|successfully rescues Filippo, it is |Suffering and misery lead to much conflict in the|There are many examples of conflict in the film. |

|the negative relationships and the |play. (Examples – Liam fighting for Sive and |(Examples – Michele fighting with his parents and |

|destruction they cause that stands out|being threatened, Pats and Carthalawn cursing |friends, Felice attacking Anna, Sergio pulling a |

|in both texts. |Thomasheen, Mena and Thomasheen attacking Nanna |gun on Felice etc.) |

| |etc.) | |

| | | |

| |The greatest moment of suffering is when Liam |This is similar to Pino carrying Michele out of the|

| |carries Sive’s dead body into the kitchen after |cave after he shoots him. However, unlike Sive, |

| |she kills herself. |Michele is still alive. |

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| |Sive has been betrayed by her guardian and loses |Michele has been betrayed by his own parents but |

| |her life as a result. |luckily appears to have survived. |

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| |Liam will have to live with the heartbreak and |Even though Michele appears to survive it is clear |

| |Mena, Mike, Thomasheen and Sean Dota will have to|that his relationship with his parents will |

| |live with the guilt that they sent a young girl |struggle to survive, as the police arrive to arrest|

| |to her death. |them. |

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Introduction Paragraph:

Understanding the personal and family relationships in a text is the theme that had the greatest impact on me during my comparative studies. The texts that I have studied are "Sive" by John B Keane and "I'm Not Scared" (INS) by Gabriel Salvatores. In both of the texts it is clear that in personal, parental and family relationships we get interesting insights into the characters and I discovered the enormous impact these relationships can have on the decisions that the characters make. Both texts portray very strained family units and present utter failure in family relationships. In spite of this, in both "Sive" and "INS" there are varying levels of hope and positivity shown through personal relationships. However, as the theme developed what stood at to me most was the incredible suffering relationships can cause. It was also clear to me that in both of the texts the key relationships of the main characters, whether good or bad, hugely influence their destiny.

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