A Chip in the Sugar (From Talking Heads)
A chip in the Sugar (from Talking Heads)
by Alan Bennet
tasksheet
1. This short play is about mainly three people. What are their names?
2. When did the events talked about take place?
3. Describe the events. What happened?
4. Describe the mother’s life.
5. Describe the son’s life.
6. Compare the son with his mother’s former lover.
son / loverclothes
means of transport
profession
family life
7. How does the mother justify
a) her using the toilet for handicapped peopleb) her falling down on the pavement
What does that tell us about the way she sees herself?
8. Describe the way the mother reacts to her meeting Frank.
9. What is Graham’s opinion of Frank?
10. What does the whole episode tell us about the relationship between the son and his mother?
11. The monologue is called “a chip in the sugar”. Explain.
A chip in the Sugar
by Alan Bennet
tasksheet
1. This short play is about mainly three people. What are their names?
Graham / Vera / Frank Turnbull2. When did the events talked about take place?
yesterday3. Describe the events. What happened?
Graham was walking with his mother, a daily routine, when suddenly she falls on the pavement and one of the people who comes to watch is Frank Turnbull, a former boyfriend of mother. He takes both to a cafe, where mother remembers the good times she had with Frank.4. Describe the mother’s life.
It’s very regular and full of routine. She is dependent on her son, he educates her, wants her to knit ski-bonnets instead of tea-cosies or bed socks in the day care centre. He looks after her, offers his arm when they go walking and is eager to be number one in her life. Mother is old but is happy to have a break and enjoy something of her old glory when she meets Frank.5. Describe the son’s life.
Graham is very caring. His life is full of devotion to his mother, in fact there not much else. He seems to have failed in many respects, is a bit backward (although he knows a lot of facts), very earnest (he could be a parson if he believed in God). He hates is when his routine is broken. He resents his mother’s attention for ‘His Lordship’, the unwanted intruder. He is jealous and acts like his mother’s lover. He seems indignated that people see them as a couple and yet he likes to tell this incident.6. Compare the son with his mother’s former lover.
son / loverclothes / old-fashioned, tie. / short raincoat and yellow gloves: a dandy.
means of transport / a moped / a Rover 2000
profession / ‘he is between jobs’. He used to make paper flowers and soft toys for handicapped children. It means he is unemployed. / He made it in life as a gents outfitter, textile business.
family life / unmarried, no children / married twice with children and grandchildren.
In short, Graham is the loser.
7. How does the mother justify
a) her using the toilet for handicapped people / She likes it because of the extra elbow room.b) her falling down on the pavement / She blames her bifocal glasses.
What does that tell us about the way she sees herself?
She refuses to accept the fact that she grows old.8. Describe the way the mother reacts to her meeting Frank.
She acts like a girl of 18. After 52 years she suddenly to remember all, the meeting places theyhad (at the beach). Frank has a great impact on her. He makes her break her routine: a different cafe (not the classy, regular, drab place where the waitresses wear no uniform), coffee instead of tea, a cheeseburger! The new cafe is red, which is the colour of love, passion, life!
9. What is Graham’s opinion of Frank?
He is jealous. When mother needs to be helped back on her feet, “His Lordship” can’t do the job because his back hurts. He sees him as a nasty intruder and a dandy.10. What does the whole episode tell us about the relationship between the son and his mother?
Graham likes to believe that mother depends on him. He dislikes the influence Frank seems to have on mother, making her giggle in a silly way, making her do novel things like eating a cheeseburger. The last time she had done something like that, she had to throw up in the night and he stood beside her bed then. He likes to play the martyr. He likes to be called ‘number one’ after the meeting. He wants a monopoly over his mother, also over the way she thinks about social issues.11. The monologue is called “a chip in the sugar”. Explain.
Graham lives such a routine-like life that anything unusual becomes a threat and he comes to see all the little details that break the routine. He believes his mother too wants order and a regular routine. Even a small thing like a chip in the sugar could upset her (him?). But with Frank around, mother does not even complain about the chip in the sugar any more. She is so excited that she does not notice the things that frustrate Graham. Graham feels sorry and betrayed that his mother no longer supports him in his peevishness.