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My Grandmother's HousesSecond section

In ‘My Grandmother’s Houses,’ Jackie Kay uses different settings to describe her grandmother’s personality and give an insight into her childhood experiences.

Part of EnglishJackie Kay

Second section

As in the first stanza, the new house is immediately introduced through the child’s eyes and a child’s sense of play:

I play in the lift all the way up to 24

Despite the element of fun for the child, Kay notes the obvious difficulties her grandmother now faces – the noisy kids/ playing hopscotch contrasts with the peace of the cemetery outside her old home. Does this represents an unwelcome intrusion of a lively, younger generation into her life?

Stanza two describes the flat in purely functional terms: the hot/ running water and wall-to-wall foam-backed carpet are very different to her cluttered tenement. They are listed as if by an estate agent. There is no sense of personal connection – no sense that the grandmother accepts this place as her space.

she still doesn't settle down

This phrase could imply she never fully feels at home here. It also suggests that she refuses to stop her busy routine, even at the age of seventy.

The stanza ends by describing church from the child’s perspective. She is dragged there and the place is strange. She seems as uncomfortable in these surroundings as her grandmother is in her new house.

My parents do not believe

This ambiguous statement suggests that there is a direct link between the girl and her grandmother - a relationship that her parents are not part of. The grandmother is the only link to this world.

But it also suggests a separation between the two. Does the girl not believe because of how she has been raised? The minor sentences A couple of prayers. a hymn or two do not suggest real religious commitment. It seems the child is going through the motions – acting out a routine. But the last line signals the child making a connection between God and Gran. The capitalised ‘G’ and alliteration hint at the impact these Sundays in the strange place had on her.