Notes on a scandle by Zoe Heller †How is the theme of obsession presented in the book? Essay

Notes on a s dealdal, written in the first person by Barbara Covette, a blotto friend and colleague of Shebas, is a story active(predicate) Sheba Hart, a clayware teacher at St Georges school, who allows herself to become engaged in an affair with sensation of her fifteen year old pupils, Steven Connolly, who is one(a) of her few pupils with an interest in her subject and not just disrupting lessons.This story is truly much about irresistible impulse, and not that only of Sheba and her lover. In fact a very queen-size proportion of the fresh is devoted to showing Barbaras loneliness and obsession with Sheba. It is through with(p) in an almost subtle way so that Barbara as the narrator is not aware how clearly she is obsessed, yet we as the consultation sack up see it. With this the plot becomes almost as much about Barbara as it is about Sheba.From very early on in the novel we can see that Barbara has an obsession with Sheba, and that the obsession is likely to seduce b igger. This can be seen from the very inauguration. The very fact that Barbara notes the exact clothes that Sheba is eroding and comments on them shows she has been paying a great amount of attention to Sheba from the very beginning. On the first page of chapter one Barbara says that Sheba is a fey person, she makes a point of saying this, which indicates possibly jealousy of Sheba.As we go on into chapter one Barbaras jealousy is becoming more and more apparent, as everybody else is fussing about Sheba, Barbara chooses to stay out of the way, most likely due to her look up to of Sheba. Barbara looks in on everybody fussing a precisely Sheba almost as a move on the wall would, noting to herself who talks to Sheba and exactly what she does. She does not try herself in the beginning to socialise with her, but yet still seems very concerned in her. This shows the beginning of obsession.When in chapter one Elaine reached out to touch Shebas ears, Barbara remarks in her text about no t shaving her armpits, and refers to Elaine as scope out like a monkey. This shows us that Barbara is irritated by anybody else fussing over Sheba, so she instantly insults them as if to make herself feel worst and more worthy of Shebas attention than them.At the beginning of chapter deuce Barbara says that she must maintain maximum accuracy, so therefore starts to put unitedly a time line of Shebas year. This itself seems psychoneurotic. She buys gold stars to bring on at important events. It appears to us that Barbaras life at this coiffure is revolving around Sheba.On page 32 Barbara writesThroughout the first half(prenominal) of the winter term, I had been building up my confidence to tackle Sheba on the matter of class discipline.This indicates that Barbara is nervous about talking to Sheba for some causal agency however we are almost certain by this stage in the novel that if it had been another one of the teachers at St George, Barbara would not have had a problem wit h it.Also on page 32 is the realisation on Barbaras part that Sheba had befriended carry through Hodge. Barbara was very envious of this friendship and begins to relegate a lot of interest in this friendship. Barbara continuously slags off Sue Hodge and calls her, The most awful prig. This adumbrates an element of obsession is here, as if Barbara was not interest in Sheba then she would not care who she was chumming up with.At the beginning of chapter three, it is made very clear that Barbara was jealous of Shebas friendship with Sue. She writesThe ridicule of my having agonized over Shebas friendship of fatty Hodge.She used the sacred scripture agonized which is quite a strong word, so Barbara was obviously deeply affected by this. She then goes on to sayIf Sheba had made a wiser choice of girlfriend, if she had have chosen me from the start- it is possible that she might have avoided the Connolly imbroglio.We can see here that Barbara desperately destinys Sheba as a friend, in an obsessive nature.In the beginning of chapter five, Barbara says that if it makes Sheba happy it makes her happy. This very clearly indicates that Barbara is obsessed with Sheba. On page 83, Barbara contradicts herself, she say that she does not argue with the necessity for age bars, but then goes on to defend Shebas actions. She seems to think that there is one rule for one person and another for Sheba.When Barbara is invited to Shebas house for dinner party she panics very much about the way she is dressed, particularly about the heals opinion she may be too tarty. She is acting more like she is release on a date then to a friends house for dinner. This shows us that Barbara is very keen to impress Sheba, and doesnt want her to think anything bad of her at all.The first sentence of chapter ten saysBy summer my connection with Sheba was well established.The way she says this is almost like a spy trying to infiltrate the government and not as you would involve somebody to s ay about their friend, this seems odd and almost stalker like.In chapter thirteen Barbara decides to stay away from Sheba, and see how long Sheba can get it. However it turns out to be Barbara who is the one who cant stick it, she becomes rather depressed and confused. Here Barbara is acting more the way a lover would after a break up than a friend.In Barbaras lunch date with Bangs in chapter thirteen when Barbara realises someone else is kindle in Sheba, she instantly tells him about her and Connollys relationship. Barbara may have done this as she doesnt want anyone to come between her and Shebas friendship, and she feels threaten by others in Shebas life.Towards the end of the book Barbara copes great felicity in destroying the model of Sheba and Connolly, she begins by destroying the boy though this shows that Barbara is trying to get rid of everything from Shebas life that is not centred on her.All of these things suggest that Barbara is slowly becoming more and more obses sed with Sheba throughout the novel, and that she wants to take everything that is not centred around her away. She may even have been satisfied that Sheba has mazed her family and now must depend on Barbara as she is her only rest friend.