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Ursula’s abusive husband. Ursula is driven to marry Derek following her rape, pregnancy, and abortion. Derek is very traditional and exacting when it comes to what he expects of his household and of Ursula. When Ursula is unable to meet these standards, he beats her. Eventually Ursula runs away to Izzie’s, but Derek follows her. When he finds Ursula and Teddy together, he assumes that she is sleeping with another man and beats her to death.
Derek Oliphant Quotes in Life After Life
The Life After Life quotes below are all either spoken by Derek Oliphant or refer to Derek Oliphant. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Like a Fox in a Hole, Jun 1932 Quotes
“Intact?” Ursula echoed, staring at Sylvie in the mirror. What did that mean, that she was flawed? Or broken?
“One’s maidenhood,” Sylvie said. “Deflowering,” she added impatiently when she saw Ursula’s blank expression. “For someone who is far from innocent you seem remarkably naive.”
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Six years after Ursula’s rape and subsequent pregnancy, Ursula meets and shortly after marries a young man named Derek Oliphant. They choose to have a quiet wedding with only Derek’s mother, Sylvie, and Hugh present. After the ceremony Sylvie questions Ursula as to whether Derek knows she is “intact” or not, referring to her virginity. Sylvie once again reveals her insensitivity to Ursula’s trauma, unkindly questioning her daughter’s innocence on the subject. Yet this cruelty demonstrates some of Sylvie’s hypocrisy and the injustice of British society when it comes to teaching women about sex. Sylvie blames Ursula for her rape Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate la
She no longer recognized herself, she thought. She had taken the wrong path, opened the wrong door, and was unable to find her way back.
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Following Ursula’s rape by Howie, her subsequent pregnancy and abortion, and then her marriage and abuse by Derek, Ursula one day realizes in a hat shop how far she has diverged from her idea of who she is, and how she feels as though her fate no longer rests in her hands. But this chapter, coupled with the one just after it, presents a complicated relationship between choice and fate. For it is true, Ursula does not explicitly do anything that causes these events—mostly they seem to happen to her. But it is precisely this lack of agency that leads Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis.
Derek’s whole life was a fabrication. [...] What had he wanted from her? Someone weaker than himself? Or a wife, a mother of his children, someone running his house, all the trappings of the vie quotidienne but without any of its underlying chaos.
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After Ursula endures months of abuse from her new husband Derek, she one day discovers that the textbook he has purportedly been working on is nothing more than a series of sentences edited and re-edited, with no underlying substance. This causes an epiphany: that everything she thought she knew prior to marrying him had turned out to be a lie, and that Derek’s primary concern in their marriage has been in controlling her every action. Ursula’s thoughts are a pretty accurate indictment of British societal norms at the time, as she demonstrates how they became dangerous for her. Derek had Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inven
The Land of Begin Again, Aug 1939 Quotes
Powerful men needed their women to be unchallenging, the home should not be an arena for intellectual debate. “My own husband told me this so it must be true!” she wrote to Pamela.
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When Ursula is living in Germany, she gets close to Eva Braun, who is Hitler’s mistress. She notes that Eva isn’t terribly intellectual; she talks mostly about inconsequential things. This prompts a statement from Ursula’s own husband, Jürgen, who notes that men like their women not to challenge them. These sentiments—even though Jürgen claims that he doesn’t necessarily believe them—start to echo some of the dynamics between Ursula and her previous husband, Derek. Derek had also wanted Ursula to be “unchallenging” and relegated to the domestic sphere. He expected her to be the weaker person between them, which is why Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo.
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Derek Oliphant Character Timeline in Life After Life
The timeline below shows where the character Derek Oliphant appears in Life After Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Like a Fox in a Hole, June 1932
...blood, and helps her to her feet, asking if she’s okay. He introduces himself as Derek Oliphant. Three months later, they are married.
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Derek is a history teacher, and their courtship consists of long bike rides and visiting pleasant...
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Ursula and Derek marry in a registrar’s office, witnessed only by Hugh, Sylvie, and Derek’s mother. Pamela and...
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Ursula and Derek move into a house close to his school, which Derek had bought and furnished without...
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On the first night of their honeymoon, Derek seems not to notice that Ursula is not “intact.” He brags rather pompously that he...
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...becomes one of keeping house, making sure everything is washed, scrubbed, dusted, folded, ironed, swept. Derek is very particular, and banishes Ursula from his company most evenings so that he can...
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...was really in need of extra money she could always ask Izzie or Hugh, but Derek would be mortified if she did this while they were married because it would be...
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...if she doesn’t get a pastime, and so she takes up tennis. When she tells Derek over breakfast, he is angry that she didn’t ask for permission before doing so, and...
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One afternoon, Ursula and Derek go to his mother’s house. Derek is dispatched on several jobs around the house, and...
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The next day, Derek scolds Ursula for the breakfast she makes, saying sarcastically that she does nothing all day...
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Derek gives Ursula money to buy a hat for “sports day”—an event at his school. When...
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Derek walks up to Ursula, saying “hello, dear,” and kissing her on the cheek. Ursula can’t...
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That evening, Derek stays at school for dinner. Ursula goes into his “study” (what had once been the...
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At that moment, Derek returns home, asking Ursula what she’s doing. She calls him a liar, and asks him...
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...Ursula up immediately. He asks what happened to her face, and then if she’s left Derek. He’s happy to hear that she has. Teddy had recently announced that he wants to...
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...tired, until the doorbell rings. She answers it, presuming that it is Izzie—but it is Derek. She is so shocked she can’t speak. He twists her arm back and marches her...
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...cannot see because of the blood in her eyes, but she can hear Teddy and Derek fighting. She thinks that she doesn’t mind dying, as long as Teddy is safe. She...
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The End of the Beginning
...on her nose. A man comes over and tries to help her—he introduces himself as Derek Oliphant. Ursula knows him, but she also doesn’t know him. She gets to her feet...
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