Brighton Rock by Graham Greene and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Symbolism in the texts

Outline of activities:

1. Give each student a quotation from the list below. Ask them to look it up, check they
understand its context, who says it and what it refers to.

2. Without giving away or mentioning the key symbol in their quotation, each student
needs to quickly find others with similar quotations (E.g. those students with
quotations focusing on Brighton rock need to team up etc.). Students can either do
this by charades (drawing the symbols in question), or if they are feeling shy, in words.
(Those with quotations about Colleonis lighter, for example, might talk about the
images of luxury and wealth as well as showy corruption implied by their symbol.)

3. Once they have found their matching quotations, students work in small groups to
figure out the function of their symbolic object in the novel and how it contributes to
characterisation, setting, atmosphere and the narrative.

4. After feedback from each group, students should create a list of other objects which
have symbolic significance in the novel (cars, poison, tunnels, music, windows ) and
make links with those in A Clockwork Orange, the partner novel.

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 Brighton Rock by Graham Greene and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Quotations:

1. I cant see a piece of Brighton rock without He belched and said with tears in
his voice: Carvings different. (Part 6, Chapter 1.)

2. Brighton Rock The clue would have seemed hopeless to many women, but
Ida Arnold had been trained by the Board. (Part 6, Chapter 1.)

3. Oh, no they dont. Look at me. Ive never changed. Its like those sticks of rock:
bite it all the way down, youll still read Brighton. Thats human nature. (Part 7,
Chapter 1.)

4. He took the sticks and turned: he knew what he would see - the promenade was
shut out behind the rows of Brighton rock. (Part 6, Chapter 2.)

5. There wasnt a point, he seemed to be indicating, fingering his gold lighter, at

which their worlds touched (Part 2, Chapter 2.)

6. He fetched out a gold lighter and flourished it at his cigar. (Part 6, Chapter 1.)

7. The gold cigar-lighter, the grey double-breasted waistcoat, the feeling of a racket
luxuriously successful for a moment dominated him. (Part 3, Chapter 4.)

8. He sat down on the bed and swept off Dallows crumbs. (Part 4, Chapter 1.)

9. [] the brass bedstead upstairs, the little pot of violet ink on the washstand, the
flakes of sausage-roll. (Part 3, Chapter 4.)

10. Well? he said, lying there without moving, fully dressed among the pastry
crumbs. (Part 2, Chapter 2.)

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