SCRIBBLE
A LEVEL
How do you solve a problem like Pinkie?
I
Head of English, Mr Robin Aldridge, explores the central character o f G r a h a m G r e e n e ’s n o v e l B r i g h t o n R o c k .
am drawn to Pinkie Brown
saves Rose from a fate worse than life? Is
Rock and Pinkie Brown will inexorably
because he is such a Marmite character – students either really love him or really hate him. I can’t quite decide where I stand, but it is in A-level classes on ‘Brighton Rock’ where debate rages on whether he is essentially a good character who makes poor choices or whether he, in fact, is an amoral sociopath incapable of positive thoughts or positive emotions.
he a victim of his own horrific upbringing
revolve around your relationship with
in the back-streets of Brighton?
‘the boy’ and perspectives on these
Whatever your own position with these
quandaries.
‘Marmite’ characters, any study of Brighton
‘Is he a knight in shining armour?’
Similar debate happens when classes study Macbeth and wrestle with the perspectives on life and ambition of Macbeth, and I am also reminded fondly of my own A-level study of Paradise Lost Books I and
II where I recall distinct admiration and respect being constructed by Milton for his central protagonist, Satan, as he begins his ascent from Hell back to Heaven, but I think that it’s Greene’s character that provides the most problems for a reader. Is he capable of loving Rose or just using her as a shield? Is he a knight in shining armour who
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