Catch Us If You Can - Analysis on Settings

LYDIA CHAI YEE XUAN 2014

An Analysis on the Settings of a Novel: Catch Us If You Can

The comedy fiction novel written by Catherine MacPhail entitled Catch Us If You Can is

made up of a journey tale of a grandson named Rory McIntosh bringing along his granda on an

escape. The purpose of the escape is due to community’s concern that serves not right for the

both of them who do not want to be separated from one another. Being one old and one young,

they are incapable of taking care of themselves, not to mention then each other. Hence, ditching

the community’s help is their alternative to be able to live together happily.

Settings of a literature are important because they define when, where and who are

involved. For this novella, the place setting especially, plays an important role since this is a

story about journey. At the beginning of the story, Rory, a teenage boy and his unfit granda live

in a flat without any other family member. Rory’s routine is to travel to and fro from school to

home, passing by the bakery during lunchtime to ensure that his granda is not hungry alone. He

is responsible of finding food for him. Occasionally, Rory goes to the playground to meet his

best friend, Darren Fisher to discuss problems faced. Up to this stage, MacPhail has introduced a

few important places that are symbols in uncovering the themes. The flat that both Rory and his

granda stay is a symbol of peace. It is a place that both of them spend time together without

interference from anyone else. However, when MacPhail writes the flat is being burnt down due

to granda’s carelessness, it signifies that their peace is gone. Also, the playground is an irony

symbol because to Rory, that is a place for him to pour out his problems to Darren. Instead of a

place to play as the name suggest ‘playground’, it is a place that buries all his problems at this

early age.

The development of the story starts when granda has set a fire on their own flat

unintentionally. He is suffocated due to inhaling excessive burning smoke thus being sent to the

hospital for rescue and warded in a general hospital. Consequently, Rory is brought to the

children’s home at Castle Street by a social worker named Val Jessup. This is the place that Rory

detests and afraid of. It is a place that caters children with no family support and requires help

from the community and social worker. Based on the description of MacPhail, the Castle Street

is “an old Victorian villa that had been converted into children’s home just after the war: Grey,

dead stone, crow-step gables and even a turret – it looked just the kind of place wizards and

warlocks would live in”. The name ‘Castle Place’ appears in another book’s title, ‘The Castle


Street Kids and The Good Neighbor Book’ written by C. C. Morrison Jr. (2012). Similarly, this

book is about children living in the Castle Street, a tall tower like the lonely castle Rapunzel

stays in. Nevertheless, the name ‘Castle Street’ is unreal on the real map and can be merely a

made-up place by MacPhail. Oxymoron is used in creating the name. Castle is meant for the rich

to stay in the olden days whereas the street is for poor people to build their shelter. By

understanding the origin of the name, it is contrasting with the reality that MacPhail writes this

place belongs to the helpless and financially unstable children.

After a few days of being warded, granda is brought to the Rachnadar hospital for further

medication treatment without alerting Rory first. The Rachnadar is a place that granda used to

describe before he enters there personally, a place that is “the local old people’s hospital”. When

granda is aware of where he is being transferred to, he gets agitated and claims it “is where they

put old folk that nobody wants”. In fact, to Rory and his granda, both Rachnadar and Castle

Street are their “nightmare”. It evokes curiosity of the reader of all names, why MacPhail has

selected a name that sounds very much like an Indian name. Once again, this place does not exist

in real on the map. It is possible that the origin of the name ignites from MacPhail’s research that

there is an increasing number of old folks in India throughout the years when the novel is written,

in year 2004. In 2001 census has shown that the elderly population of India accounted for 77

million; in 1961 originally 24 million and increased to 43 million in 1981 and to 57 million in

1991 (Sebastian, 2011). With the increasing number of old folks outburst in India during that

time, it is possible for MacPhail to link to the idea that there will be a place that some of these

elderly need to be placed in. After all, it is not possible that all the youngster are filial to their old

parents.

After the caravan’s stop, Rory and granda together with the Sammy’s family reach Forfar

to get a shelter at Sammy’s brother, Bernie’s place. Instead of moving forward to the north,

which is a remote area that is unsuitable for granda to survive in, Sammy decides to drive them

towards the south to Dundee. Then from there, they should take a train from Dundee to Glasgo

where they could seek help from Ruby’s cousin. Ruby advises them to sit separately in different

carriages so that people will not identify them as the missing grandpa and grandson. However,

Rory chooses to get down at one station before Glasgow because he suspected them being

spotted. Hence, they leave the train at Perth, the place where they encounter Sprout Breath’s


threaten. This is also the place where granda adopts negative behaviors such as hitting people,

stealing car and even have the thought of shoplifting women’s clothes as disguise.

With the stolen car, granda drives down the city, unknowingly towards the direction of

Liverpool until the car is out of petrol. At the petrol station, they meet the benevolent Rab who

offers to help them to escape with his girlfriend, Annie’s help by fetching them to the Borders.

From there, Rory and granda board into Annie’s car to head south towards England, which

means nearer and in the same direction towards Liverpool. She intends to send them to her

cousin, Norma who lives at Lake District. They stay in a “lovely remote cottage”. The scenery is

mesmerizing and life seems peaceful until Norma decides to call the police after seeing granda’s

health turning worse. With no alternative to choose from, Rory and granda continue their “Great

Escape” towards no specific location, anywhere except Liverpool, since granda has already

found out Rory’s initial plan of finding his father to be responsible of this matter.

It is an irony of how this family comes together in the end living in Liverpool. At the

beginning, Rory and granda refuse to go to Liverpool to call for help from their only family

member Jef McIntosh, who is Rory’s father and granda’s son. However, they still end up being

in Liverpool after going through the adventurous journey which is full of hurdles. Perhaps, this is

just the way how MacPhail is trying to instill the moral value that no matter what, family still

will unite together as one.

In this novel, the society setting consists of a few categories: friends, missionary

community, supernatural representative and the Castle Street teenagers. Friends who support

Rory’s decision are Darren, Tyrone, Zara, Nicola Sammy, Ruby, Bernie, Rab and Annie. They

provide help in terms of transportation and lodging. It will be rather impossible for Rory to bring

granda to travel that far without the help of these people. Whether they are teenagers or adults,

they are considered as Rory and granda’s truthful friends, the type of dependable friends which

can be described using, ‘friends in need are friends in deed’.

The plot of the story is driven by the missionary community as well, who appear to be

antagonists. The McIntosh family doctor, Dr. Nicol with a kind intention offers “to get you

(granda) a home help”, an idea which is immediately rejected by granda. Next, the social worker,

Val Jessup who is assigned to take over this case also thinks it is the best way to send both the


young and the old to places where they are believed to be taken better care of instead of living on

their own in their flat. The nurses, Nurse Long and Nurse Maureen do their job dedicatedly,

trying to help the ill granda. Their intention is similar to the rest of them, trying to make granda

stay there, a place where granda pleaded to leave badly. The police officers are of course

working together with the social worker and media, trying to capture Rory and granda back to

the ‘prison’ which they thought is good for them. Nevertheless, Mrs. Foley, Rory’s teacher in

school even develops the thought of adopting Rory as a method of solving Rory’s problem.

These people obviously carry a kind intention in their doings but unfortunately, it is not what

Rory and his granda are after for. To them, the only peace and bliss are “to be away from the

world, away from everything” who try to separate them. They care only the surface physical

needs without considering their emotional care. MacPhail probably wants to show another moral

value that sometimes what you think is good for people may not be pe rceived exactly the same

way. This is because everybody seeks for different pleasure in life. There is no wrong or right to

judge about.

At the Perth train station, the man whom granda attacks from the back with a lemonade

bottle is a boy whom Rory names as Sprout Breath. He is the exact antagonist besides the

indirectly known antagonist missionary community. Instead of helping, he wants to threaten

Rory to report him to the authority to gain fame. Based on the analysis of how MacPhail

interprets different role of the characters, it could be extremely possible that the Sprout Breath

character is an exposure of the world’s ugly side, whereby there will be people who will not help

but bring only devastation. However, based on the count of kind versus evil characters, MacPhail

still sides the fact that good will always defeat wickedness.

Interestingly, MacPhail has included the supernatural representative in this story too.

Rory names the representative “Big Man”. The first time talking to him is when he prays so that

granda will “wake up” while he is extremely worried over granda’s health in the hospital. It is

noticeable in a few parts of the story whereby Rory seeks help from God. His faith starts to grow

when his first prayer is answered indirectly. By inserting the element of belief in God in this

tough journey of a young boy, MacPhail may be trying to shine some light in his life, letting him

know that when nobody can be depended on, there is always God who looks after you from a

place you cannot see. It is a good moral value being inserted via the social setting by MacPhail.


Contrastingly, to oppose the positive belief in God, MacPhail also includes the superstitious

fortune prediction by Ruby. It turns out exactly true. However, this does not affect Rory’s

continuous prayer to God whenever he faces any difficulty.

The Castle Street teenagers are only active characters during certain part of the plot.

However, they are important to be acknowledged because they represent the ‘helpless and being

manipulated’ entity in a community. Their situations differ from Rory’s, whereby Rory has

developed a strong bond between him and his granda. Hence, Rory cannot accept the new life

like the teenagers living in Castle Street, thinking that everything is good when it is all pro vided.

MacPhail may be wants to disclose that there are two different types of people in this world: one

who accepts things the way it is and one who opposes to gain what they really want to have. In

this case, the Castle Street teenagers and Rory are just two different entities who fit well as

symbols to reveal that idea. It is true that is how it is in the reality. Some people just feel

contented when they do not have to work hard because they just enjoy in the ‘stress-free zone’.

Rory used to wonder “how could they (Castle Street teenagers) seem so happy here (Castle

Street)?” However, the introduction of the character Tess is particularly special as she is a

teenager who is rude, selfish, aggressive and bad tempered. She is doing all these to gain extra

attention from the crowd because of her loneliness. Her act is a form of repulsion of the norm but

in a wrong way. Therefore, she is stuck in the same condition but with her problem unsolved,

unlike Rory who seeks for another alternative to gain his freedom and companionship.

In the aspect of time setting, this story sets during the summer season. It is the warm

weather season suitable for swimming and vacations (Redd, 2012). Summer is defined

figuratively as a time of light, joviality, expression and wholehearted action (Venefica, n.d.).

MacPhail has chosen this season as the time setting with reasons. Based on the interpretation of

the season, it is opposing the encounter of Rory and his granda at the beginning. They are

exhausted running and escaping from people who try to separate them. Due to the warm weather,

they are surely to sweat a lot throughout the journey. However, in the process of escape, they

meet different kind hearted people who attempt to help them in their adventure. These kind souls

are like sun penetrating into their dark lives at that time. At the end of the whole absurd journey,

Rory and granda have found their true home with Jef and settle down to enjoy a good summer.


Perhaps in MacPhail’s point of view, the summer that Rory and granda undergo that year is a

unique and unforgettable life turning point.

There are specific moments in the story which are significant to be analyzed to

understand the literature better. On the “worst day” of Rory’s, he gets bullied by Tess and

receives the confirmation that granda has admitted into the Rachnadar hospital. To him, it is like

having two bombs falling onto his territory on the same time, causing him to feel shattered and

hopeless completely. From that point onwards, Rory has made up his mind to create the master

plan of “The Great Escape” with his granda when he is ready.

When he stays at the Castle Street during the time when granda is admitted into the ward,

he experiences a “strange, fitful sleep” that causes him to wake up at odd hours of “2 a.m., 3.10,

4.15”. He is actually suffering from insomnia due to excessive worry on his granda’s health and

wellbeing in Rachnadar. Soon, this worry leads him to develop the idea of fleeing the place since

that is the only alternative for them to be together.

Rory uses three days to plan “The Great Escape”. He allows only success and no failure

for his plan. From the time needed for Rory to execute his plan, it is clear that he has thought

about it from A to Z thoroughly, to ensure it is zero failure. This also shows his determination in

going against the people around who are constantly influencing him with their words and deeds.

However, he is persistent with his own belief. Three days are long enough for o ne to think and

decide a major decision like Rory’s.

This story is also written with a lot of usage of flashbacks. Through the application of

flashback on granda’s character, MacPhail links the characteristics of granda being old, forgetful

and fantasy minded. For example, granda loves to link women that he comes across to with

another female artist, like how he compares Val Jessup to Grace Kelly, a beautiful film star who

turns into a princess. Though granda disclaims both their appearances are similar, he still insists

that both of them have fair hair. From this incident, it shows that granda is old, fantasies a lot,

talks ridiculously at times and feels proud of his younger days.

All in all, the comprehension of the overall novel’s settings is vital to help readers to

understand better the whole plot. Each setting carries a specific function to the development of

the story and should not be taken lightly.


References

Morrison, Jr. C. C. (2012). The Castle Street Kids and The Good Neighbor Book. Retrieved from

http://www.amazon.com/Castle-Street-Kids-Good-Neighbor/dp/1475147937

Redd, N. T. (2012). Summer: The warmest season. Retrieved from

http://www.livescience.com/24592-summer.html

Sebastian, M. (2011). A comparative study to assess the wellbeing and level of satisfaction of the

elderly residing in old age home vs family setting at Madivalla in Bangalore. (Master’s

thesis, Ambigara Chowdaiah College of Nursing, Hegdenagar, Bangalore). Retrieved

from http://www.rguhs.ac.in/cdc/onlinecdc/uploads/05_N201_31557.doc

Venefica, A. (n.d.). Symbolic meaning of seasons. Retrieved from http://www.whats-your-

sign.com/symbolic-meaning-of-seasons.html

Catch Us If You Can - Analysis on Settings

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