ENGL383
his mother so desperately
attempts to keep hidden
from view. To admit that you
were suffering in poverty
was seen as shameful,
even amongst the workingclasses of places such
as Wigan where this
situation was actually quite
commonplace.
The desire to convey an
illusion of respectability
continues in the poem
through the style-shifting
that the use of free indirect
speech facilitates. The styleshifting we see within ‘Posh
Visiters’ is interpersonal
style shifting (Hodson,
2014). It initially may seem
to be an obvious example of
interpersonal style-shifting
via upward convergence,
however, we never hear
Aunty Winney speak, so it is
not clear whether the move
towards Standard English is
an attempt to converge with
Aunty Winney, or whether
it is simply an attempt to
conceal the private life of
the family by putting on
a ‘show’, so-to-speak, in
order to maintain a level
of privacy that keeps the
visitors at a distance from
the realities of their lives.
Despite this attempt at
elevating their speech,
Jeffrey and his mother don’t
quite manage it, as can be
seen by the colloquialism
‘our’ used when she asks
‘Would you like some pie,
our Jeffrey’, to which he
responds ‘No Mam, I’m not
feeling hungry’. The use of
the possessive pronoun
‘our’ is a common feature
of Northern English dialects
and is indicative of colloquial
language, and Jeffrey’s use
of ‘Mam’ is very colloquial
too. By allowing us to see
the colloquialisms slipping
into their speech, Unsworth
shows that there is are
cracks in the façade that the
interpersonal style-shifting
is attempting to create. It
indicates how the dialect
and identity of the people
of Wigan is interlinked and
engrained so deeply into
their characters, as Jeffrey
and his mum’s idiolects are,
that even when they attempt
to mask it in order to present
a more socially acceptable
version of themselves in
order to try and match with
Aunty Winney, they still
show that they are from a
distinct social group that
lives very differently to how
they perceive the rest of
society does.
The engrained sense of
identity, family loyalty and
loyalty to the community
that is so often seen within
Lancashire working-class
communities is a topic
Unsworth explores further
in his poem ‘Aspirations’.
‘Aspirations’ is a poem that
deals with an unnamed first
person narrator discussing
the apprenticeship he has
secured for himself upon
leaving school and his
father’s reaction to the news.
The mention of working at
the ‘factry’, or in the ‘pit’ in
stanzas three and four (right)
highlights the kind of work
that was on offer to workingclass people in towns such
as Wigan in the 19th and
20th centuries. That these
were the only two options
the narrator believes were
107
Excerpt: Aspirations
Ah’m leav’in skoo on Friday.
Aah’v geet misel a job.
Aah’m start’in i smithy come
Monday.
For a wage of thirt’y bob.
Tomorrow aas’t at go’t serp’lus
store.
Fot get some hob nailed boots.
Un then aah’l waant an
avasack.
Un one of them theer beyler
suits.
Aah did’nt waant fot go in’t
factry.
Un definatly not deawn pit.
So av geet misel an
apprenticeship.
But mi fayther, he did’nt laahk it.
“Norr as much money as they
gerr in’t factry. Tha knows”
Un they’l tak thi forr a foo.
As soon as tha’s done serv’in
thi time.
Tha’l eend up back in’t dole
queue”.
“Chep labour that’s what them
jobs are.
Aah’m tell’in they ickle come
to neawt.
Thaah should have come ter’t
Maypow.
Where aah could sort thi eawt”
“There’s no way thill get me
deawn’t pit.. Dad
Aah’m beawnt bet’ther misel
one day.
As soon as aah come eawt mi
time.
Aah’l eend up on full pay.
Aahs’t av mi own eaws one
fine day.
Un aah’m goo’int av a car.
Un as’t tak mi childer for an
oliday.
Someweer further afar.