CBSE Class 12 English - Going Places 

About the Author: A.R Barton is a modern writer who has authored stories that are mainly concerned with the unpleasant and pleasant experiences of adolescence and the problems faced by teenagers during this stage of life.

Theme of the Story:

Barton explores the theme of adolescent fantasizing and hero-worship in this story through the character Sophie. The author also coveys through the story that it is natural for the adolescents to fantasize but to a certain level because there is no use of building castles in the air.

CHARACTER SKETCH OF IMPORTANT CHARACTERS:

Sophie:

  1. Teenager
  2. DayDreamer
  3. Lives in her own fantasies
  4. Dislikes Jansie for discouraging her to have wild thoughts.
  5. Is ambitious and wants to open a boutique, be an actress or a fashion designer. sensitive and innocent
  6. Escapes into an unrealistic world so that she could reach those places where she can never be there in real.

Geoff  :

  1. Sophie’s elder brother
  2. He is an apprentice mechanic
  3. Lives a very private and secret life
  4. Did not speak much, very quiet
  5. His ventures in life make way for Sophie’s unrealistic ad wild thoughts.

Jansie  :

  1. Sophie’s friend
  2. Sensible and practical
  3. Brings Sophie back to the real world by making her realize that they both are embarked to work in the biscuit factory and that her father will never allow Sophie to open a boutique.
  4. Nosey
  5. She cannot keep a secret.
  6. The exact opposite of Sophie.

Summary

Sophie being a teenager with whims and fancies belongs to a very poor family. She wants to open a boutique, be a fashion designer or an actress. Her friend Jansie keeps bringing her back to the reality by telling her that it is not easy to open a boutique because she doesn’t have enough money and it will take very long for her to collect so much money, she tells her that they are meant to work in a biscuit factory but Sophie pays no heeds to what Jansie say sand continues her daydreaming.

Sophie lives in a small house with one elder brother Geoff and one young brother Derek along with her parents. She likes talking with Geoff because he is the only one in the family who listens to the wild dream Sophie and because he does not speak much Sophie is very fascinated by the life lead by Geoff. She tells him that she met a famous football player Danney Cassey.

When he tells it to their father he knows that Sophie is lying and asks her to stop thinking wildly and stay out of trouble. The family goes to see the football match and there Geoff who partially believed in Sophie’s story tells it to Janise’s brother who further tells this to Jansie. When Jansie confronts about this to Sophie, she gets very angry with her brother because she did not want Jansie to know as she could never keep a secret. Returning from the match Sophie sits by a Canal and is again lost in her daydreaming process and imagines Danney Cassey walking towards her. She always thought such a place which away from the hubbub of the city is always better for meetings like this, the one she imagines with Danney Cassey.

But because it was all in her mind, she is left disappointed at the last because she believed too much in the world she fantasized about so much so that she even led her real-life according to it, she feels bad that now again she will return home and when her brother will ask about the autograph that she was supposed to get after the next meeting with Danney Casey she will have nothing to say and then again no one will believe her.