The Telegram ICS

• ”Fat domestic bird…like a buzzard”


  • Bird imagery is Used to highlight the contrast between the two women
  • Domestic suggests the fat woman is a native to the village and is comfortable there
  • Buzzard highlights the thin woman's efforts to survive/scavenge
• The story


  • Set in a small Scottish rural community during World War Two
  • Opens with the two main characters, a fat woman, Sarah and a thin woman as they watch the village elder deliver a Telegram
• Commonalities

  • Hardship of rural life
  • Sacrifice
  • Epiphany (change)
  • Negative portrayal of women
  • Conformity
  • Symbolism
  • Contrast
  • Isolation
  • Imagery
  • Destructiveness of war
  • Prejudice
• "People began to think of the telegram as a strange missile...": 'Imagery-weapon of destruction makes clear the devastating impact the war has on the families - irreversible damage highlighting loss'
• "I made sacrifices...saving and scrimping...": 'This highlights the efforts made by the thin woman to provide for her son and ensure he had a better life.'
• "That foreigner" "She was an incomer": 'The thin woman is viewed as different by the villagers due to her past and the way she raises her son. She isn't accepted by the other villagers as she doesn't conform.'
• "He didn't mix with people and he always carried the Bible...": 'The elder is insular and doesn't fit in. He is also viewed as an outsider due to his superior position in the church.'
• ’'So unexpected, so strange, so much a gift.'-Gift imagery-the change in the women’s relationship.The fat woman puts aside her prejudice
• “People had said she was weak and useless“-This reveals the assumptions made by the prejudiced villagers towards the thin woman and the gossipy nature of the village life.
• “The telegram was crushed in his fingers”


  Emphasises the emotional trauma of the elder losing his son, the severity of his stress triggers physical manifestations, the destructiveness of war
• “She saw the years of discipline”-The fat woman recognises the sacrifice the thin woman has made. She experiences an epiphany seeing her in a different light