My Name is Leon: Writer's Methods and Techniques (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

Writer’s methods and techniques

The best responses at GCSE don’t limit their analysis to individual words and phrases. Examiners are really looking for analysis of De Waal's overall aims, so try to take a ‘whole-text’ approach to writer’s methods and techniques. Each of the below topics do just that:

• Narrative and perspective

• Structure

• Figurative language

• Foreshadowing

• Symbolism

Narrative and perspective

• My Name is Leon is written from the third-person limited point of view:

  • This means that the story is told from the perspective of one main character, and only writes with awareness of the feelings and thoughts of that character

  • The narration can inform the reader of what that lead character thinks and feels, and what happens to them

  • The story rarely breaks away from the protagonist and their perspective, which means the reader largely only experiences what that character experiences 

  • The third-person limited contrasts to third-person omniscient, where the narrator also knows everything about every other character

• With this, the reader gets to experience the events Leon as does, and understand what he is learning and what he isn’t:

  • The author uses snippets of information that Leon hears or reads when he shouldn’t to fill in some of the gaps:

    • Through this, we learn different plot points, including Carol’s diagnoses and Maureen’s anger at social services splitting the brothers up

  • We also learn how Leon misinterprets information that he hears:

    • By listening in on conversations, Leon finds out incomplete information that he is too young to understand isn’t the complete picture

    • The reader sees the bigger picture, not only understanding that Leon is missing context, but also seeing him make false assumptions

• By leading through Leon’s perspective, the reader also gets to see his illusion of Carol:

  • Leon ignores the negatives that we can see of his upbringing and his mother

  • This helps to remind us of the impact it has on the young boy, as we understand the reality of her actions more than Leon does

• This also helps build tension across the novel, as information is slowly revealed to Leon:

  • We are as unaware of things like Maureen’s health or Carol’s status as Leon is

  • This also happens directly, like in the riot scenes, as we only know what is happening in the riots from Leon’s perspective: 

    • We do not know if Mr Devlin or Tufty are safe until they make it to Leon to help him escape

Structure

• My Name is Leon follows a mostly linear narrative structure:

  • This means that the story happens in chronological order

  • A linear narrative is easier to follow, and helps to build tension and suspense as it builds towards the climax of the narrative

  • In a linear narrative, the reader experiences events in the same order as the characters, and the plot progresses in a cause-and-effect manner:

    • It helps the reader to follow the plot and the character development as we can see more clearly how events impact what comes next and how characters change from those points

  • This is also the traditional way of storytelling, matching people’s expectations and making the text more familiar to readers

• By following a linear narrative structure, we are able to follow Leon from the birth of Jake to his placement with (and potential adoption by) Maureen:

  • It gives the reader a snapshot of Lean’s life, how it changes once Jake is born and Carol can no longer cope, and how all of that eventually leads to Leon’s new life with Maureen:

    • We follow Leon from a period of profound instability to one of connection and security

• The story does use flashbacks, which give a glimpse into Leon’s past and memories:

  • Each time this happens, they are brought up because of a related point or incident in the main, linear narrative

  • This helps us to follow the thoughts of Leon in the moment he is in

  • This allows the author to fill in some of the gaps in Leon’s past, and to contextualise his thought processes actions:

    • When he is reminded of his father by Tufty, we understand that he is missing a Black male role model, and that Tufty may be able to fill this role

    • This helps us to empathise more with Leon as we understand the challenges of his past

  • The flashbacks add to the realism of the book as we get to follow Leon’s moving thoughts, as well as his actions

Figurative language

• Throughout the novel, de Waal uses simile and metaphor to add detail to Leon’s life

• These similes and metaphors are mostly very simple, which relates to the novel following Leon’s perspective and experiences:

  • By keeping these simple, we are not only relating the story to Leon, but it adds an authenticity to his voice as we know this is what he sees and feels

  • It also helps us to remain grounded in his journey, as we are meant to be following Leon and formal or complicated language would remove us from his world

• There are simple layers to the descriptions that come from Leon, but also a deeper meaning we can take from them:

  • When Leon describes Maureen with “arms like a boxer and a massive belly like Father Christmas”, we see his frame of reference

  • We also see what else it conveys of Maureen’s character, of her being strong and protective, a fighter, and also a jolly and generous person

  • Leon describes his fixation on watching baby Jake as “like the television”

  • While this shows us how Leon is, like many children, easily fixated on the TV, it also gives us a hint to how Leon fixates on fiction to escape the complexities of his life:

    • Jake being something real for Leon to hold onto and obsess over is a change for him, which may explain why he feels such a strong attachment so quickly

    • Jake is hope for Leon, a happy spark in his real life that he rarely has otherwise

  • There is then a simile used by Tony, Jake’s father, to describe Carol:

    • Saying she has “a brain like a rusty motor” is not something Leon would say

    • While we understand what he is saying, we see Carol’s mental state described by a metaphor Leon wouldn’t make or fully understand 

    • Leon also doesn’t fully understand Carol’s mental health problems, so this mirrors the language being used not being in Leon’s sphere of use

Foreshadowing

• De Waal uses foreshadowing often in the novel to build tension:

  • It is often used in moments that the reader understands better than Leon:

    • Some of this is due to being more wise to the world than Leon, but some also comes from having an understanding of the period of time the story is set in

  • There is simple foreshadowing like we see when Maureen’s shortness of breath at home, and then struggling to breathe and speak as she gets to Sylvia’s:

    • This foreshadows her absence from Leon’s life when she goes into hospital, as well as foreshadowing that Leon would be moved to Sylvia’s

  • The news on the TV talks about the increasing problems with unrest in the country, which foreshadows the riots in the area towards the end of the narrative

  • When Leon reads the assessment notes made about Carol that are in the social worker’s bag, the reader understands where Leon doesn’t:

    • The formality and language is above Leon’s understanding, so while he knows it isn’t good, he doesn’t understand it like the reader does

    • The reader knows Leon won’t be going back to Carol, at least not for 18 months, and that it would take a change in her attitude that we have not seen her capable of in the story so far

• This foreshadowing keeps a tension to the story:

  • Even though it isn’t building to a suspenseful finale, the reader is aware of the emotional turmoil for Leon, and what awaits in the care system:

    • By showing a hint of Maureen being unwell, of Carol’s diagnoses, of tension on the news, we are expecting more trouble for Leon and that forces them to empathise pre-emptively and fear for what those events will do to the already struggling child

Symbolism

In My Name is Leon, key symbolism is seen around food, and different things Leon encounters at the allotment.

Food

• Food is used to show the difference between life with Carol and life with Maureen

• It is used literally to show the difference in the availability of nourishment — Leon is getting more food and fed well — but also to symbolise the change in environment for Leon:

  • This nourishment can also be seen as emotional or spiritual

• Food was harder to come by at Carol’s, and mostly Leon was left to feed himself, as well as Jake

• At Maureen’s, it seems limitless to Leon:

  • The first meal he has, Leon describes the meal in a very long, run-on sentence, repeating “and” often to keep it going, representing his excitement and its endless nature

• At Carol’s, food and feeding symbolise how care and love are both scarce in the household, and that Carol isn’t capable of caring for the boys:

  • Leon has to “nourish” both himself and Jake on his own

• This is in contrast to Maureen’s, where there is ample care and love, just like the abundance of food:

  • Maureen is set up to care for children, both in terms of their physical and emotional needs

The allotment

• The author might be using the allotment as a setting for its symbolism

• Leon rushes to the allotment regularly, finding a sense of home and family there

• Leon has never had a sense of community, and that is what he finds at the allotment:

  • For the allotment to work, people need to work together

  • Different people from different backgrounds, like Mr Devlin and Tufty, are found together at the allotment, like in a neighbourhood or community

• There are rules, figures of some authority, committees, and the idea that people need to follow some guidelines to make the place better for all

• At the same time, people have freedom to treat their lot differently to others, grow what they want:

  • This can be seen as similar to how people decorate their homes differently and live differently within them

  • De Waal could be suggesting that this is what multiculturalism can be at its best

Plants

• The seeds and the plants represent the growth of Leon

• They also represent care-giving:

  • A place where young plants are grown and nourished is called a nursery

  • In this way, the allotment can be seen as a place of development and nourishment for Leon

• Tufty and Mr Devlin both show Leon how to help certain plants grow and help him grow by doing so:

  • The guiding hand they offer in gardening techniques is similar to the guiding hand they are offering as role models

  • It also shows that if plants grow without care they will not grow to their full potential:

    • Thus far Leon has grown, but without the care that could have made him healthier and happier

  • Tufty, in particular, talks about how “babies need looking after”, which refers to the seeds, but also to children

The empty shed

• The empty shed at the allotment could also be another example of symbolism used by the author

• It could represent many things:

  • The opening of a new place, a new home empty within the allotment community for Leon to find himself in

  • As he fills it with more things, it could be representing how Leon is fitting in more and more, making a home not just of the allotments, but of his new life with Sylvia

  • It could also represent an empty space inside Leon, and one that is filling with rage and resentment:

    • As he fills it with more things to help his escape, it is when he overhears Maureen and Sylvia seemingly planning a life without him that his emotions overflow

    • It is symbolic that he goes to his shed to retrieve what he needs, as if the floodgates to his anger have opened, and now he is letting it out

Sources

De Waal, K. (2016), My Name is Leon, Viking