Lucky Jim door Kingsley Amis

Title Lucky Jim. Author Kingsley Amis Publisher Victor Gollancz Ltd, London. First published 1954. Writer's biography Kingsley Amis was born in South London in 1922. He received his early education at local schools. His parents, who belonged to the lower-middle class, were determined that their only son should have every opportunity they themselves had missed. This put an enormous pressure on him and he's says that he had been very lonely, and that he never had any real fun. He was a member of the church choir and he really enjoyed this. It was at this school that Amis wrote his first poetry, and his first piece of fiction, which was published in the school magazine. In 1948 he married and in 1949 he moved to Swansea, Wales, where Amis become a lecturer in English at the University College. He stayed in Wales for twelve years. He wrote several books and Lucky Jim was the most important. It is translated in 19 languages, and it has been filmed. Summary of the story James Dixon is a teacher who is working on a university. His boss is Professor Welch. Welch talks to Dixon about Margaret, a close friend of Dixon, who has had a nervous breakdown al little while ago. She seems to be recovered when Dixon has a date with her. Then Welch invites both to join a musicial day at his house. There Dixon sees Bertrand, he's a painter and thinks he's very good. He's bringing a very nice lady with him here name is Christine. Dixon is jealous because he cold never has a girlfriend like her. When the music ends, Dixon leaves the house, goes to a pub, and drinks a couple of beers and goes back. When he wakes up the next morning he discovers burning-holes in the sheets and blankets. He hides it for Mrs Welch and Christine helps him with it. While they are fixing up the whole mess, Margaret comes in and becomes very angry. A few days later, Dixon asks Welch about his job. Welch can't give a good answer if he con keep his job. Later, he dates Margaret again, and discoverers a relationship between Bertrand and Carol, which is not Bertrands girlfriend. On the ball, where everybody went to, he sees Bertrand and Carol together and Christine is alone. Dixon takes Christine out of the building, and with a taxi they drive to Welches house. There, they go in the house and they kiss each other. Then Dixon has got to leave the house because Welch and his wife are coming home. The next day, Margaret reproaches him because he left her alone at the party. He commit, this is to much for her and she gets a nervous breakdown. When Dixon is at the university the next day, he's got to do a boring job for Welch. When he's ready, Welch invites him for dinner. There Mrs Welch has discovered what Dixon has done to the bed in which he has slept. He also sees Bertrand who's telling him that he has to stay away from Christine. Dixon dates Christine for tea in a restaurant the next week. When he meets her, they decide to stop their relationship, which is regretted by both. When Bertrand remarks that Dixon has been drinking tea with Christine, he threatens Dixon to leave Christine alone. Of course, Dixon says no, and it becomes a fight, Dixon knocks Bertrand out. The next day Dixon is preparing a lecture. Before he has to go on stage he drinks a lot. When he starts his lecture he is imitating Welch and he don't even sees it. This whole lecture is a disaster and at the end he's falling, he's getting unconscious. The next day he finds a note in his post-box he's fired, but Gore-Urquhart has offered him a very good job, which is wanted by other persons, including Bertrand. Then an old friend of Margaret, Catchpole gets to him and tells him strange things about Margaret. When he's home, Christine has called him that she's leaving town by train. Dixon runs for the bus, the bus is terrifying slow. Although, he's in time. Christine has broke up with Bertrand, because she has discovered Bertrand also loved Carol. Then Welch and Bertrand arrive. Dixon walks with Christine to them and he bursts into laughing.
Setting and point of view The novel takes place at one of the newer universities, during the last few weeks of Dixon's employment as a lecture. It is just before the end of the academic year. The story is told in the third person. You see it all trough the eyes of Dixon. All you read are things that Dixon things, sees and feels. I think that the writer has tried that the reader really feels what Dixon is doing. When Dixon is doing something you mostly see it in front of you and that is nice about this book, because when you can't see the situation in front of you the book isn't nice, because you can't imagine. Theme The story goes about Dixon, a young man who tries to find his place in the world. His education has put him into a society in which he does not feel at home. Dixon feels out of place in his job. Yet he tries his utmost to hold on to it: the bad start he made at the beginning of the academic year makes everything even more difficult. He just does not know how to handle situations which he is confronted. He also don't no how to see no to something he don't want to do. He's always seeing yes because he's afraid to do something wrong. He does things that he shouldn't do. For example: When he is by professor Welch his party, he just go out of the house went to a pub and then he goes back again. And when he wakes up the next morning he discovered a hole in his blanked he tries to hide it, but he should have told it. When he has a lecture he is very nervous and it's al going wrong, then Mr Gore-Urquhart offered him a job that he like. It means that he will not have to consider taking another teaching job. He is very glad whit his new job and he's thinking that he can live better with this job. Because there are now people how are nice and Dixon is feeling home by them. Genre As the novel is set on a university campus it belongs to the genre of the campus novel, a genre which came into existence in the U.S.A. It is a satiric comedy, satirising university life and provincial culture with its pretensions. But it is at the same time a very realistic novel, as many of the situations described are painfully credible. The are many situations everybody can go through and you can imagine al lot of the things that happen and I think that that makes this book realistic. Title Lucky Jim. For as the story develops, the hero, who clearly feels out of place at the College where he is a lecturer, gets into all sort of awkward situations. His involvement with the neurotic girl Margaret is a source of concern for him, and his idea that beautiful girls are not for him does not help much either. It is not until he has met Christine that his luck changes. When Dixon takes Christine home from the Summer Ball by taxi he resolves that for once in his life he will bet on his luck. Jim was lucky: Meeting Christine and her uncle and being liked by them, being visited by Catchpole who frees him from his sense of obligation towards Margaret, getting a job outside the College. The fact that Carol has told Christine about her affair with Bertrand adds to his luck as it enables him to court the girl he really loves. Character descriptions and character development Jim Dixon: He teaches history at a university, he's specialised in the middle-ages. His many uncertainties get him into situations that cause him constant worries. He don't feels home in this society were he's put in because of his education, he don't know how to handle things he don't want to do. He's always afraid to do something wrong. He is in the habit of 'putting on faces'. That show's the reader how he feels. Dixon tries to get pretty girls in his history class, but that doesn't work. It seems to me that Dixon is a little bit lazy, but when he fails to visit Margaret on the evening of her suicide attempt this is because he has not yet finished preparing his lecture for the following day. He isn't lazy but he's always doing things at the last moment. Dixon things he isn't good enough to work at the university especially when his lecture is going wrong. But when he's fired Professor Welch tells him that he always enjoyed working with him and his student Michie tells him that he enjoyed the lecture even though it went wrong at the end, and why will Caton steals Dixon's article as he's so bad. Dixon has a problem whit girls. He has something with Margaret, but he find her ugly and she isn't so nice as Christine, but Christine has something with Bertrand, so he don't know how to handle. Ad the end it is al coming ok because Dixon has brooking up with Margaret and Christine found out that Bertrand has an other relationship so she broke up with him. In the begin he not very lucky but on the end his luck changes. When he's fired Mr Gore-Urquhart is offering him a job that he likes, and it is in a society where he things he can better fit in. Some of the good qualities of Dixon how are hidden in the book are: He's polite, friendly, ordinary concerned and he has a good-natured willingness to imposed upon, a desire for unequivocal friendship. I think that when I knew Dixon personally I liked him and I maybe can be friends with him. Christine Callaghan: She is the niece of Mr Gore-Urquhart and she is a very beautiful girl. When Dixon sees her the first time he sums her up as: the combination of fair hair, straight and short cut, with brown eyes and no lipstick. The strict set of the mouth and the square shoulders, the large breasts and the narrow waist, the premeditated simplicity of the wine-coloured skirt and the un-ornamented whit line blouse, make a great impression on him. She is Bertrand's girlfriend. At a moment she confesses to Dixon that she has been feeling very depressed, and she does not really know her way around. She things that she loves Bertrand and all the things he's doing to her, she sees them as a thing you have to handle with. Because there is no relationship that has no problems. At the moment that Caron tells her that she has had an affair with Bertrand, Christine feels released of her 'duty' to put up with Bertrad's special needs as an artist and she breaks up with him. Than she calls Dixon an they both go to London. Christine lived there already and Dixon goes there because of his new job. Bertrand Welch: He is the son of Professor Welch and he is a painter. He things that he is very good, but that isn't trough. He dates Christine because he wants the job that Dixon later gets. Christine doesn't know this and Bertrand his a lot of other girlfriends. He says to Dixon that he has to go away of Christine and when he doesn't do that they are going to fight. Margaret Peels: She is the other woman in Dixon's life. She is a neurotic friend of Dixon, which needs emotional pressure; she's not attractive. She wears too much and badly applied make-up an occasionally overdresses. She wants love and attention, but she has no love to offer. She succeeds in making both Dixon and the other man in her life, Chatchpool feel responsible for her attempted suicide. The suicide was phony anyway, as she had taken too many sleeping pills, and had arranged to be found in time. This was probably a call for attention.
Opdrachten 'lees- en leerervaringen' (dutch) Opdracht 1: De kwaliteit van het verhaal. Ik vond het begin van het heel moeilijk te begrijpen, je viel midden in het gesprek met Dixon en professor Welch. Je weet in het begin nog helemaal niet waar het boek over gaat en dat is lastig. Toch word je in de eerste drie hoofdstukken wel duidelijk verteld waar het allemaal over gaat en het is een goede inleiding. Ik vind dat je in het begin van het boek heel snel over de belangrijke dingen heen leest. Dixon vertelt dan wel dat hij zijn werk niet echt leuk vindt en je ziet ook wel dat hij er moeite mee heeft. Maar als je net aan het boek begonnen bent heb je zelf al heel veel moeite om in het verhaal te komen en dan zie je niet meer dat het eigenlijk om een klassenprobleem gaat. In de verdere hoofdstukken wordt dan uiteindelijk toch wel duidelijk wat voor probleem Dixon nou heeft. Je ziet dan ook wel dat Dixon veel moeite heeft met nee zeggen tegen dingen die hij niet wil. Ik vond de omschrijvingen van het feest van Welch wat moeilijk te volgen, vooral in het engels. Ik wist eigenlijk niet of Margaret nou wel of niet zijn vriendin was en wat Christine nou precies voor iemand was. Later in het verhaal werd het wel duidelijker. Ik vind ook dat over sommige dingen wat langdradig werd verteld, zoals bijvoorbeeld de rit met de auto van Welch en Dixon. Dixon verveelt zich dan en er wordt dan ook nog precies omschreven wat hij doet. Dat vind ik allemaal wat overbodig, want inmiddels zit je zelf ook verveeld verder te lezen. Misschien was dit wel de bedoeling van de schrijver, maar ik vond het niks. Ik vond het stuk dat Dixon aan Margaret vertelde dat ze elkaar maar beter met rust moesten laten wel heel erg goed geschreven, vooral toen Margaret een zenuwinzinking kreeg. Je kon gewoon helemaal voor je zien hoe het gebeurde. Ook het stuk dat Christine en Dixon thee gingen drinken vond ik heel goed. Je zag die butler echt in zo'n restaurant lopen en het stukje daarna dat Dixon zijn geld terug wilde terwijl de butler dacht dat de fooi was vond ik wel leuk. Zelf zou ik zoiets nooit doen. Ik vond dat je de meeste stukken goed voor je kon zien en dat vind ik heel belangrijk in een boek. Soms kwam de sfeer heel goed over, vooral de saaie stukjes waren goed saai. Al met al vond ik het een leuk boek, het enige wat ik zou veranderen is dat sommige stukjes wel wat korter mogen. Bijvoorbeeld: Voor zijn lezing dronk Dixon heel veel, het is misschien wel belangrijk, omdat je ziet dat hij heel nerveus is en dat alle belangrijke mensen er zijn enz. maar het ging mij een beetje vervelen. Ook de bespreking zelf was voor mij wat te lang. De sfeer zelf werd wel heel goed beschreven, want je voelde de warmte bijna zelf. Opdracht 4: De belangrijkste handelingen en gedragingen in het verhaal. Ik kan me helemaal niet zo goed voorstellen wat de hoofdpersoon doet. Ik kan me gewoon niet voorstellen dat je dingen doet die je niet wil doen. Ook snap ik niet dat Dixon bang is om zijn baan te verliezen. Ik denk juist dat als je bang bent om je baan te verliezen, je hem dan pas verliest. Ook al weet je dat het nog niet zeker is dat je die baan houd dan moet je je toch honderd procent inzetten. Juist als je laat zien dat je je werk leuk vindt dan denken ze misschien: nou die is toch wel goed genoeg. Als ik Dixon was geweest, dan zal ik gewoon vast lekker enthousiast dingen voor volgend jaar gaan voorbereiden en er vooral veel met professor Welch over praten ( wat je allemaal wel niet van plan bent.) Ik vond het wel goed hoe Dixon tegen Bertrand reageerde toen hij zei dat hij van Christine af moest blijven. Ik zal dat zelf denk ik nooit durven. Als ik weet dat iemand al een vriendin heeft, dan zal ik er zelf niet zo snel achteraan gaan. Ik vind het ook een beetje vreemd dat hij zoveel drinkt, als ik een belangrijke lezing zou moeten houden, dan zal ik juist zorgen dat ik goed ben voorbereid en uitgerust, maar dan zal me zeker niet zoiets gebeuren. Ik vind het ook een beetje vreemd dat hij eerst achter Christine aangaat, dan tegen Bertrand zegt dat hij haar niet met rust zal laten en dan tegen Christine wil gaan zeggen dat het beter zou zijn als ze elkaar niet meer zouden zien. Uiteindelijk gaat hij dus wel naar Christine als ze een boodschap heeft achter gelaten en dan komt het toch nog allemaal goed. Ik vind dat Dixon zelf al niet duidelijk weet wat hij wil en ik zal in zo'n geval niet zo snel een besluit nemen. Verder zal ik ook nooit in mijn hele leven leraar worden en ik kan me best voorstellen dat hij het helemaal niet leuk vindt, nou heeft hij er natuurlijk wel andere redenen voor dan ik maar toch, ik kon me op die vlakken wel goed indenken hoe hij zich gevoeld moet hebben. Opdracht 6: Wat heeft het met mij te maken. Op zich heeft het verhaal niet zoveel met mij zelf te maken. Ik studeer nog niet, ik woon niet in een studentenflat en ik heb al helemaal niet het idee dat ik later onderwijzer wil worden, op wat voor een school dan ook. Op zich kan ik me ook niet zoveel voorstellen met dit verhaal. Ik heb ook helemaal niet het gevoel dat ik door mijn opleiding in een hogere sociale klasse word geplaatst waar ik me niet thuis voel. Het lijkt me juist heerlijk om tussen allemaal geleerde en belangrijke mensen te zitten. Het lijkt me juist leuk om iemand te zijn die geleerd heeft, veel van de wereld weet en een soort voorbeeld rol vervult. Ik heb dus eigenlijk niet zo heel veel van het verhaal opgestoken al zie ik wel in dat het heel belangrijk is om te doen en te zeggen wat je wil en je niet iets laat opdringen wat je niet wil. Toch vind ik dat je niet altijd moet doen waar je zelf zin in hebt. Zo zal ik dus nooit iemand anders zijn vriend van een feest mee naar huis nemen en een afspraak met hem maken. Zo ben ik niet en dat zal ik ook nooit durven. Volgens mij gaat het altijd fout, want veel mensen zijn het er niet mee eens als je een andermans vriendje afpakt. Ik denk dat je dan veel vrienden en kennissen kwijt raakt en daar zal ik geen zin in hebben.