CBSE Class 12 English Going Places Notes Set A

Going Places Class 12 English Summary of the Story

SUMMARY OF THE STORY

‘Going Places’ is the story of an adolescent girl called Sophie, who, like many of her age, is filled with fantasies and desires. She comes from a poor family. She wishes to own her own boutique after school. If not that, she is very certain that she can become an actress or a fashion designer. Her friend, Jansie, tells her that dreams come true if you have money or experience.

Sophie lives in a house, which is very small for the number of people in her family. Her family does not believe her, as she is known to make up stories and scenarios in her head that are far from reality. Her elder brother Geoff, who does not let anyone enter his life, fascinates her. He is strong, handsome and tall. She is jealous of his silence and wants him to take her on bike rides. Sophie fantasises about Danny Casey, an Irish football player, whom she had seen playing in innumerable matches. Sophie imagined that Danny was in love with her and loved her. She thought that she too loved him. She was very excited and shared the treasured secret with her brother Geoff. He was skeptical of his sister’s claim but she convinced him eventually.

Sophie told him that she was looking at the clothes in Royce’s window when Danny he came and stood beside her. She described his appearance to convince her brother. When her father entered the room, Geoff told him about Sophie’s encounter with Danny Casey. Her father responds that if Danny remains focussed then he might be a better player. Sophie said in favour of Danny that his ability is not to be questioned. When the father is informed that Sophie said that Danny was going to buy a shop, he dismisses them by calling it another of Sophie’s wild stories and states that she is going to get herself in trouble one day.

The next Saturday, Sophie went to watch the customary United match with her family. United won two-nil and Casey drove in the second goal. Sophie’s face glowed with pride at the exemplary genius of Danny Casey. The next week Jansie interrogated about her encounter with Casey. She told her that Geoff had told her brother, Frank, who let Jansie know. Sophie wished that Geoff had kept it a secret between them but then she convinced Jansie that it was indeed the truth and made her promise to keep it a secret.

Sophie was relieved to know that Geoff hadn’t told Frank about her meeting with Casey the next week.

After dark, Sophie walked by the canal and sat down on a wooden bench under a solitary elm tree where lovers sometimes came. While waiting, Sophie imagined Danny coming. She imagined her own excitement at the prospect of his arrival. Not until sometime had elapsed, she began to think that Danny wasn’t coming at all. Her worries were not emotional but about the failure of her love. She rose to go back. Yet she hoped against hope that Danny would meet her in the arcade in front of the Royce’s Store. But Danny never turned up. Sophie’s fantasy came to an end. However, Sophie still fantasises about her hero, unperturbed.

Going Places Class 12 English Character Sketch

CHARACTER SKETCH: Sophie

Sophie has been portrayed as the central character in the story ‘Going Places’. She perfectly represents the girls of her age in poor families.
Sophie always lives in a dream world, dreaming impossible things.
The opening scene of the story clearly tells what sort of girl she is.
She is not ready to accept the reality of her family’s condition and dreams of having a boutique of her own.
She makes up the story of meeting Danny Casey, a charming and upcoming footballer. Nobody believes her but she refuses to accept that it is only her fantasy. Rather, she starts believing that she has met him and to prove that she is telling the truth and makes up another story that she has fixed a date with him. She is so lost in her dreams that she actually goes to the canal and waits for him but he does not show up. She knows that he will not come, but still she becomes sad. On the whole, we can say that she was adamant who did not listen to anybody except her heart which always created problems for her.

CHARACTER SKETCH: Jansie

Even though Sophie and Jansie were of the same age, their characters were poles apart. Jansie unlike her friend Sophie was a very practical and down-to-earth person.
She belonged to a middle class family. She knew they were all going to work in the biscuit factory after leaving school and hence, did not entertain Sophie’s absurd ideas and imaginations. She did not have high ambitions in life like Sophie. Though she was sensible and practical, she was nosey and she loved to gossip.

About the Author

A.R. Barton is a modern writer, who lives in Zurich and writes in English. His stories are based on problems concerning adolescents. In ‘Going Places’, Barton explores the subject of adolescent fantasising and hero worship.

Theme

The whole story is about unrealistic dreams that have little possibility of coming true. This is when disappointment makes its entrance into life. The story seem to hint that it is okay to dream, but dream with limits.

Justification of the Title

The title of the lesson is justified, as ‘Going Places’ is a idiomatic expression meaning ‘to be successful in one’s career.’ The lesson is about Sophie’s wish and fantasy to come out of the drudgery of belonging to the lower strata of society and to go places. Sophie also goes ‘places’ in her fantasies.

Message

It is a good thing to dream. However, dreams should be realistic. Merely fantasising and daydreaming will cause disillusionment. Unless one is hardworking and persevering, mere dreams will only lead to disappointment.

Summary

Going Places is a story written by A.R. Barton that discusses teenagers and their dreams. Far from the real world, the teenage period is all about the desire to reach the sky. Most people, at this age, have role models whom they worship.

In the story, Sophie, who comes from a lower middle class family is a teenager who believes in her dreams. Her dream is to own the finest boutique in the city. But there is no money or means by which she can do it. Her friend and classmate, Jansie, is a practical girl well aware of the realities of life. She asks Sophie not to indulge in such fantasies. In order to have a boutique, one needs a lot of money. Sophie aspires to run a store where she will work as a manager and she will save the money to have her own boutique. She happens to be an incorrigible dreamer. Sometimes she dreams to be an actress and sometimes a fashion designer. Sophie’s hero is a young football player named Danny Casey. She began to believe that she had actually met Danny Casey. Her continuous thoughts of Danny Casey becomes the cause of her hopes and disappointments.

Sophie’s father disapproves of her dreams. Sophie’s elder brother Geoff is an apprentice mechanic and an enigmatic character. She reveals her dream of having met Danny Casey. She describes it as a chance encounter. Geoff does not believe her. She tells Geoff not to tell anyone about the fact that Danny Casey had asked her to meet him. The family goes to see the weekly football match. Danny Casey plays exceptionally well. Sophie’s father, Geoff and Derek express their happiness and celebrate the victory. Sophie is shocked to find out that Jansie knows of her meeting with Danny. Sophie is evasive, but she finds out that Jansie does not know anything about the date between her and Danny. Sophie is happy that Geoff had kept her faith in him. She explains to Jansie that she had asked for an autograph but Danny could not give it as there was no paper or pen. Jansie assures her that she can be trusted.

Sophie waits for Danny at her favourite spot along the canal. She tries to balance the prospects of his coming with the prospects of his not coming. Her thoughts make her sad. She thinks how she will face her family especially when no one believes what she had said. Sophie once again dreams of meeting Casey at Royces. She fails to come out of her fantasy and is overwhelmed by the memories of the match. This was the only time she had seen Danny Casey in actuality.

CHAPTER IN A NUTSHELL

Unrealistic Dreams
Adolescent fantasizing–hero worship–adolescent on–verge of adulthood often lives in world of fantasy–helps–realize what one cannot achieve in reality–easily take–hero worship hoping–make–big in life like–heroes–helps one to think wide–promote creativity–forget their mundane, ordinary lives for a while–escapism in moments of stress and turmoil–when harsh realities of life dawn–becomes frustrating and difficult to come to terms with life. Living in world of fantasy–cannot achieve set goals–at times–fail to differentiate between reality and fantasy–however natural for students–to have unrealistic dreams and to identify with.

Sophie - protagonist in ‘Going Places’

• belongs to weak socio-economic background.
• doesn’t have decent house.
• distaste - absurd situation - incongruity.
• escapes from her boring, working class existence.
• Sophie - romantic nature.
• fond of hero worship and fantasizes meeting Irish player Danny Casey.
• so much obsessed with meaning-starts believing her imagination as real.
• nobody believes her-feels disappointed.
• In her adolescent mind “fantasy and real world merge to an extent - actually goes sits on bench by canal waiting date to show up.”
• despondent and dejected - yet dreams on.

Jansie - Sophie's friend

• simple - sharp contrast to Sophie’s romantic nature.
• practical-realistic-balanced-honest.
• wishes Sophie becomes sensible and practical.
• tries to pull her back to reality-earmarked to work in biscuit factory.
• Cannot be trusted with secrets-gossips.

Geoff - Sophie's brother

• Symbolizing freedom for Sophie - brother.
• apprentice mechanic.
• dresses up shabbily, carelessly-not conscious of his good looks.
• understands the harsh realities of life-adult.
• independent-evasive-reserved-man of few works.
• Jansie jealous of his silence.
• keen desire to enter into the deep recesses of mind.
• imagines he goes to places she has never been.
• meets exotic - interesting people.
• Sophie trusts - shares secrets with him. Geoff - big fan of Danny Casey.

Danny Casey

• Young Irish football prodigy-brilliant player celebrity-playing for the English club United.
• Sophie’s hero figure.

Sophie’s Dad

• strong, very practical hardworking.
• signs of labor reflected face.
• humble living - yearns to make his family comfortable.
• feels helpless due to paucity of resources.
• does not indulge into self pity.
• realistic does not humor Sophie for her concocted stories.
• reminds her of their appalling living conditions.
• makes the best of his life – weekly pilgrimage to watch United.

Sophie’s Mother

• bent-burden of household chores.
• oblivious to comfort-needs.
• suffers harsh realities of life.
• sigh symbolic of suppressed desires.
• upset on hearing rows.