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Going Places Summary in English by A.R. Barton
Going Places by A.R. Barton About the Author
A.R. Barton is a modern English writer. He lives in Zurich and has written a number of literary pieces depicting the contemporary problems and issues. In the present story ‘Going Places’ Barton emphasizes that fantasy and imagination end up in being illusions and empty mirages.
| Author Name | A R Barton |
| Born | 17 December 1913, London, United Kingdom |
| Died | 4 April 1943, Llandow, United Kingdom |
| Education | Britannia Royal Naval College |
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross and bar (DFC and bar) |
| Battles and wars | Battle of Britain, Siege of Malta |
Going Places Introduction to the Chapter
The chapter ‘Going Places’, written by A.R. Barton, discusses about the teenagers and their dreams, f The author says that teen age period is all about aspirations. They believe to achieve the impossible f things in life. Most of the teenagers have a role model, whom they worship as their hero.
Going Places Theme
In this chapter, the author stresses on the fact that it is quite natural for teenagers to have unrealistic dreams, especially when their families are not well off. If the fantasies are beyond our approach, it may lead to miseries. Youngsters usually idiolise successful people and dreams of following their footsteps. Their dreams drive them away from the harsh realities of life. This makes it difficult for them to come in terms with life.
Going Places Summary in English
The story revolves around the life of Sophie, a teenager, who like others of her age, is filled with fantasies and desires. She comes from a poor financial background, but hopes to be sophisticated in the future. Sophie dreams of owning a boutique one day or being an actress or fashion designer, but her friend Jansie believes that both of them were earmarked to work for the biscuit factory. Jansie, who is more realistic, tries to make Sophie see reality, but in vain.
Sophie lives in a small house with her parents and brothers, Geoff and little Derek. Though she voices her feelings and desires, her parents ridicule her because they, unlike her, are more mature and know the truths of life.
Sophie finds a sort of fascination for her elder brother Geoff, who is tall, strong, handsome and reserved. She envies his silence and often wonders about his thoughts and areas of his life that she doesn’t know about.
The centre of this story is that Sophie fantasises about Danny Casey, an Irish football player, whom she had seen playing in innumerable matches. She makes up a story about how she met him in the streets and tells this to Geoff. Geoff, who is more sensible than Sophie, does not really believe her, even if she wants to. It seems an unlikely incident for Sophie to meet the prodigy in their street, but when Sophie describes the meeting in detail, he begins to hope that it could be true. She tells him that Danny has promised to meet her somewhere again.
Sophie gets so pulled into the story she made that she herself begins to believe that it’s true. She waits for the Irish player, but obviously, he never arrives. Then, she makes her way home, wondering how her brother would be disappointed on knowing that Danny Casey never showed up. However, Sophie still fantasises about her hero, unperturbed.
The whole story is about unrealistic dreams and how we love to indulge in them knowing all the while that they have little possibility of coming true. The story seems to hint at dreaming within limits. Unless you are impossibly ambitious, hardworking, and have loads of patience and perseverance, such dreams are best kept under lock and key unless you like the taste of bitter disappointment.
Going Places Main Characters in the Chapter
Jansie
Jansie belonged to a middle class family. She was a sensible and a practical girl. She did not have high ambitions in life as she is aware of the realities of her life. She does not believe in fantasies, unlike Sophie. She already knew that she has to work in a biscuit factory after completing school.
Geoff
Geoff was a soft-spoken person and an introvert. He preferred to live in reality and was very hardworking.
Sophie
Sophie was an outspoken and a daydreamer. She had various dreams and fantasies. She refused to accept the realities of life. Belonging to a middle class family, her fantasies were very far away from her reach.
Going Places Summary Reference-to-Context Questions
Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
1. Jansie, knowing they are both earmarked for the biscuit factory, became melancholy. She wished Sophie wouldn’t say these things. When they reached Sophie’s street Jansie said, “It’s only a few months away now, Soaf, you really should be sensible.
a. Who became sad?
Answer:
Jansie became sad.
b. What does Jansie know?
Answer:
Janise knows that they both are earmarked for the biscuit factory.
c. What are ‘these things’ referred to here?
Answer:
Here, ‘these things’ are referred to the fantasies of Sophie.
d. “You really should be sensible”. Why did she say so?
Answer:
Jansie says so because Sophie has been daydreaming and fantasising those things which can never happen in real life.
2. He was kneeling on the floor in the next room tinkering with a part of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread on the carpet. He was three years out of school, an apprentice mechanic, travelling to his work each day to the far side of the city.
a. Who is ‘he’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘he’ is Geoff, Sophie’s brother.
b. What was he doing in the next room?
Answer:
He was kneeling on the floor on the next room tinkering with a part of his motorcycle over some newspaper spread on the carpet.
c. For how long had Geoff been out of school?
Answer:
He had been out of school for three years.
d. What was Geoff’s profession?
Answer:
Geoff was an apprentice mechanic. He travelled every day to the far side of the city.
3. And she was jealous of his silence. When he wasn’t speaking it was as though he was away somewhere, out there in the world in those places she had never been.
a. Who is ‘she’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘she’ is Sophie.
b. Whom was she jealous of?
Answer:
She was jealous of her brother, Geoff.
c. What was the reason of her jealousy?
Answer:
She was jealous of her brother’s silent nature.
d. What did Sophie feel about her brother when he does not speak?
Answer:
According to Sophie, when Geoff does not speak, his mind is travelling some other places where she had never been.
4. And I knew it must be him because he had the accent, you know, like when they interviewed him oh the television. So I asked him for an autograph for little Derek, but neither of us had any paper or a pen.
a. Who is ‘I’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘I’ is Sophie.
b. About whom is the speaker speaking?
Answer:
The speaker is speaking about Danny Casey, the footballer.
c. How did she know that he was him?
Answer:
She knew that he must be Danny because she recognised his accent which was familiar with the one, she heard on a television interview.
d. Why did they need paper or pen?
Answer:
They needed paper or pen for an autograph.