--Tim Winton

-Presented by:
-Mitali Banerji
-Raj Jain
-Seyed Salar
-Varun Somani
Setting & Plot
The settings is not very important, and the story is more theme
centric.
The story is presented in the form of a flashback.
It seems to be set in the modern times, as the vacuum cleaner,
cheap cars etc are quite recent achievements.
The story is set in 3 main areas:
1.Victor and Carol’s house
2.Their Car
3.The mistress’s house
Carol Lang…
Major & Rounded
Character
 She was trying very hard to support her family after
her husband died.

 She wanted her son to go to university as she felt

education was very important. This was thus her
motivation to work doubly hard and earn more money
for the family.

 She felt very helpless as she could not do much to

prove her innocence. She said, “these people, they
can say anything they like. You can’t fight back.”

 She was quite old and thin. Her hands were rough
due to all the cleaning and her son even mentions that
you could see the veins pop out on her legs.

The author has described her in an indirect manner.

The main modes of conveying information used by the
author are by mentioning it during the conversation,
showing it through her actions and by communicating
it through the thoughts and feelings of her son. Also
Trait Example
Devoted to her familyCleaned homes to support her family and send her son
to university
Proud of working She never thought cleaning houses was beneath her
even though her previous job was much better
Meticulous She surveyed the house before leaving to ensure
everything was back in its place
Honest She left the earrings even though she could have
taken it easily; Even though it was her last day on the
job she still did her work properly
Cautious While driving she was very careful
Strong (emotionally) She did not like to show her weaknesses; if she cried
she would go under a tree so that nobody could see or
hear her
Good at her job She was sacked only once; she had the liberty to
change her job as she pleased since she had so many
offers; she was a domestic benchmark
Victor Lang…
Major & Rounded
Character
Trait Example
Independent Wanted to get a part-time job to pay for his university
tuition
Selfish Hated going to work with his mother as he thought it
was demeaning
Persistent Did not let go of the argument with his mother about
returning to the job for almost a week
Vigilant Is always aware of his surroundings and takes of note
of everything around him; he notices every minute
detail
 Victor is a 20 year old, law student.

 He is basically a very caring person, even though

he may have refused to help his mother many a
times, he always felt guilty for it. He is strongly
against the wealthy as he feels that they
underestimate and over-exploit his mother. He refers
to them as, “the worst payers” and “the biggest
slobs.”

The author has described him in an indirect manner.

He mainly gives information about Victor through the
The Mistress… Villain
Minor and Flat
Character
 She is a very unforgiving person, mainly
because she sacked Carol for a small pair of
earrings. Also it was the first time that such an
event had occurred, but she still was not
convinced that it was a small mistake which
should be forgiven.

 She read a lot. Her living room was filled with

many books, biographies and anthologies.

 She was probably a teacher or a lecturer in a

college as there were many marked assignments
on her desk. When Victor read the comments she
had made, he understood that she was actually
good-natured.

As the character never makes an appearance in

the story, there is no direct description given
about her. The author uses the conversation
between Victor and Carol as well as the
description of her house to give us clues about her
personality.
The author describes the different characters in different ways:

Carol: The author has described her in an indirect manner. The

main modes of conveying information used by the author are by mentioning
it during the conversation, showing it through her actions and by
communicating it through the thoughts and feelings of her son. Also by
stating her beliefs, he has highlighted many of her personality traits.

Victor: The author has described him in an indirect manner. He

mainly gives information about Victor through the conversation he has with
his mother. Also through his actions we come to know a great deal about his
personality.

The Mistress: As the character never makes an appearance in the

story, there is no direct description given about her. The author uses the
conversation between Victor and Carol as well as the description of
her house to give us clues about her personality. She is not a very
important character, thus the author has not spent much time giving us
details about her.
Point of
view…

 Victor (the son) is the narrator of

the story.

 He is speaking about his own

experiences thus the story is written
in first person.

 In this story he talks about the

one time when his mother was fired
from her job and accused of stealing
a pair of gold earrings.
 The mood in the story is one that of helplessness and
hopelessness. As mentioned before Carol cannot do
anything to prove her innocence.

 Right from the beginning of the story, starting at the

title the author is trying to portray this mood.
 Also phrases which Victor many a times mentions like
“they took her for granted” and “to chip her rates down”
show that they we’re exploiting Carol.

 The despair can be seen when we read the physical

description of Carol.

 Victor point outs that her hands were “ravaged” from

the cleaning products and “the veins stood out in her
calves”. These go to show that she was made to work very
hard and not paid enough.

 Also when he says that you could see the “very light of
day pouring out through her limbs” he is actually trying to
say that his mother is very thin and weak.
Themes…

 Pride and dignity of the working class

Even though Carol works as a house maid, she still maintains her dignity.
She does not do anything which may cause her to fall in her eyes. She
would rather leave the job than apologize for a mistake she has not
made. She can afford to do this as she is taken as a domestic
benchmark, and thus has many more offers waiting in line for her
services.

 The understanding relationship between mother and

son
The entire story in fact revolves around the relationship of the mother
and the son. The mother has taken up a low, demeaning job just to
support her family and send her son to university. The son is trying as
much as possible to help his mother and joins her at work sometimes
even though he hates going.

 Exploitation of the helpless

In this story Carol is being exploited by every person, whose house she
works in. Victor repeatedly mentions that she is being underpaid and
being made to work more and more. He refers to them as “the worst
payers.” Also one of the most significant lines in the story which brings
Literal Analysis of the
Title
The title is suitable to the story:
The story is based on rich and poor ,one
person is rich who has lost the earrings and
the person who was blamed was a poor
lady.
The poor lady used to work as a maid, thus
she was on her knees at many points during
her job.
The lady ,Carol Lang, was helpless.
So all this can suggest why was the story
named ON HER KNEES.
Figurative Analysis
of the title…

 The figurative meaning

however, is of greater
importance while conveying the
theme. The title symbolizes the
helplessness . The phrase on
your knees usually means that
your are weak and defeated. Also
it signifies that you have no
strength or power left to do
anything more.

 In this story too, Carol is being

exploited and being blamed for
something she has not done. Just
because she is poor she cannot
say anything to defend herself.
She knows that she is not wrong
but still she must bow down
before her mistress as she
Author’s purpose:
The author use the story to give us many
messages.
First the self confidence of the lady who keeps
doing her work without thinking much about the
injustice done to her.
She has a high amount of self-respect, and is not
afraid to show it. She balances her reputation and
her dignity.
The author points out the bitter factor of life
how easy it is to blame the poor.
Bibliography
http://writersplot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451972

http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/ARP/ARP124/la
http://traditionalpatriot.info/sitebuildercontent/site
IGCSE Style
Questions…

Re-read the story “On her knees” by Tim Winton.

Explore how the author creates the feeling of
helplessness and despair.

Explore the ways in which the author shows the

understanding relationship between the mother and
son.

Imagine you are the mistress, write your reasons for

firing Carol, also mention do you think your action was
right or wrong.