The Fall of the Wall and the Runaway

Good evening  fellow scholars, how is your day?

The first two chapters of the Geoffrey Trease historical fiction, Cue for Treason, taking place in Shakespearean England, will be critiqued and analyzed as well as some connections will be made.

Cue for Treason

The first two chapters are named " Dawn Is Dangerous " and  " Escape ". Now, these are very suggestive titles for a chapter and strongly hints at the plot. To give a little background information into my thoughts and analysis, I shall briefly summarize the two chapters. In the first chapter, our protagonist, Peter Brownwigg, tells the story, in first person point of view of him joining a group of villagers, including his own father  to tear down a stone wall that was built on a meadow that many families shared,preventing them from having access. The noble responsible was Sir Phillip Morton, who recently inherited the lands of Cumberland, England, from his deceased grandfather. Peter, for the sake of the thrill, threw rock at Sir Phillip , and got his signature green cap with his name on it shot of his head.

In the second chapter, Peter was at lunch break from school when he realizes that Sir Phillip has learnt of Peter's involvement in the tearing of the wall  and throwing the rock at Sir Phillip, which was a big sign of disrespect and dishonor to the noble, all because Sir Phillip found Peter's hat. Upon realizing this, and fearing the punishments,  Peter decides to travel to Penrith by foot for safety, and leaves his family and pony Nathaniel behind.

  Connections are starting to form between this story, the activities we did as a class and the question pertaining to one's life path.All the activities we did as a class relates to this story in the sense that it fuels the conflict and adds to it a layer of depth. For example, when asked what defines a home, and what places are important in the community, a group responded with things they considered a home needed. The location and geography of the story matters as the conflict is revolved around it, We can better understand and relate to the characters of the story if we could imagine a similar situation with us, such as our homes taken over, and make more conclusive responses. Another example would be when asked what tyrant is, a group responded with " a person who abuses his or her totalitarian power over the people", and gave examples such as Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez, Adolf Hitler etc.. I think this connects to the story because with comprehension of what defines a tyrant, we can judge by ourselves if Sir Philip is a "good guy" or "bad guy", and understand the context of the story more.

In regards to the life path question,  it matters because  the story will follow Peter's journey to do what is deemed right, and defy practically every rule of English social hierarchy, and contest Sir Phillip.

 Peter and the villagers definitely should have the right to fight for what is rightfully theirs. After Ms.Lees took out what a student rightfully deserves,equality, my group and I  feel anger boiling deep down in us, even though it was part of the activity. We can now connect to Peter and the villagers and feel their anger and frustration. However, their methods of fighting for what is rightfully theirs can is questionable. Considering that Sir Phillip is way ahead of the commoners in terms of power and influence by miles and miles, it is unwise to get involved in tearing his wall down. They should have remembered that the whole village could pay as a result of their actions. For example, Sir Phillip can raise rents and taxes on the people. Also,  Peter throwing that rock was absolutely unnecessary and a rash decision on his part. Due to the fact that Peter is only a young adolescent, he is rash in his decisions, and that would be a major liability in whatever his goals are. Also, it would have helped if Peter was more attentive in his job to watch out for any danger, but I am curios to know, if he was more attentive and signaled  the arrival of Sir Phillip earlier, would it prevent him from throwing that rock for the thrill of it?

Overall, in the first two chapters alone, I have learnt a lot about Shakespearean England, including the daily lives of its citizens and the social hierarchy. I have learnt how geography affects the conflict of this story and got a rough picture of crime and punishment in that era. This novel seems to be an exciting one and I look forward to continue reading it.