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Ralph
A friend of Maurice’s who kisses Ursula aggressively on her sixteenth birthday and then rapes her on the back staircase at Fox Corner a few months later, leading to her pregnancy and abortion. In another timeline, Ursula is able to avoid this traumatic sequence by punching him in the face before he kisses her.
Howie Quotes in Life After Life
The Life After Life quotes below are all either spoken by Howie or refer to Howie. 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, May 1926 Quotes
Ursula had seen her brothers naked, knew what they had between their legs— wrinkled cockles, a little spout—and it seemed to have little to do with this painful piston-driven thing that was now ramming inside her like a weapon of war. Her own body breached. The arch that led to womanhood did not seem so triumphal anymore, merely brutal and completely uncaring.
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Ursula’s second encounter with her brother Maurice’s friend Howie is very different from her first, in which Howie kisses her aggressively but Ursula generally reacts positively, considering it a rite of passage to womanhood. Before, Ursula describes “the arch of womanhood” as “triumphal”; here, she contrasts that description as she experiences a brutal rape. Atkinson demonstrates the inherent danger of being a young woman in British society during this time period, and the fine line between owning one’s sexuality and being taken advantage of. What Atkinson critiques most, however, is the expectations placed on women versus men, and the danger 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. Molesti
Like a Fox in a Hole, Aug 1926 (I) Quotes
“But he forced himself on you,” she fumed, “how can you think it was your fault?”
“But the consequences...” Ursula murmured.
Sylvie blamed her entirely, of course. “You’ve thrown away your virtue, your character, everyone’s good opinion of you.”
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After Ursula leaves the hospital, having recovered from her illness following her abortion (which she had gotten because she was raped by Howie), she is met with a variety of reactions from the family members who know what has happened. Hugh, fulfilling the role of a loving father, merely wants to make sure that Ursula is alive and healthy. The women in Ursula’s family, however, have two polar opposite reactions. Pamela speaks as the voice of the modern woman; she understands the sexism that exists in society, which holds that women should be blamed for getting raped and pregnant because 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 ear
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.
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Howie Character Timeline in Life After Life
The timeline below shows where the character Howie appears in Life After Life. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Like a Fox in a Hole, 11 February 1926 (I)
...he has forgotten Ursula’s birthday. He has brought two friends for the weekend: Gilbert and Howie. Gilbert has movie star looks and Howie is American, which gives him a kind of...
(full context)
On the way back, Ursula trips over Howie, digging through the bushes trying to find Teddy’s ball. Howie offers to warm her up...
(full context)
Like a Fox in a Hole, May 1926
Maurice turns up again with Howie in tow, stopping at the house on their way to London. Ursula has thought of...
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Howie finishes and bounds down the stairs, completely unphased by what has just happened. Ursula is...
(full context)
Like a Fox in a Hole, 11 February 1926 (II)
Ursula punches Howie in the face. He protests that he only wanted a kiss, saying he wasn’t trying...
(full context)
A Lovely Day Tomorrow (III), August 1926
...future. She is sixteen, on the “brink of everything.” She had even been kissed by Howie on her birthday, when she’d told him that she’d give him just one kiss and...
(full context)
