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1、Unit 4 Blackmail by Arthur Hailey,Background Information Arthur Hailey: the author of a number of bestselling novels. Born in Luton, England, in 1920, he was educated in English schools until age fourteen. After a brief career as an office boy, he joined the British Royal Air Force in 1939 and serve
2、d through World War II, rising through the ranks to become a pilot and flight lieutenant,In 1949 Hailey immigrated to Canada, where he was successively a real estate salesman, business paper editor and a sales and advertising executive .He became, and still is a Canadian citizen. He makes his home a
3、t Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. In 1956 Arthur Hailey scored his first writing success with a TV drama, Flight into Danger, which later became a motion picture and a novel, Runway Zero-Eight (1958).,Background Information,His Works The sensational Hailey bestsellers include: The Final Diagnosis (1959),
4、 In High Places (1962), Hotel (1966), Airport (1968), Wheels (1971), The Moneychangers (1975).,Though a Canadian himself, he set the scene of most of his works in the United States. Each of his books deals with one particular field of society. This is made clear by the titles of his books. It is thi
5、s peculiarity of his that is value to those who are eager to learn about contemporary American society.,Background Information,About the Novel The St. Gregory Hotel is the largest in New Orleans, Louisiana. For 4 days from Monday evening to Friday, the hotel goes through a succession of dramatic eve
6、nts. With the hotels mortgage due by the weekend and with no chance of getting further renewal, the owner, Warren Trent, reluctantly makes up his mind to sell his hotel to a chain hotel owner, Curtis OKeefe.,Peter McDermott, the assistant general manager, has to tackle several other knotty problems:
7、 handling an attempted rape which has occurred in one of the hotels rooms; catching a professional thief operating in the hotel; pacifying a whole convention of several hundred dentists to putting up a member of the convention-a black doctor. Then there is the Duke of Croydon.,About the Novel,The Du
8、ke is an internationally famous statesman and the newly-appointed British ambassador to Washington. He and his wife occupy the best suite in St. Gergory. On Monday evening while driving back with his wife from a gambling house, the Duke and the Duchess, however, drive away. The hit-and-run becomes t
9、op sensational news in New Orleans.,About the Novel,About the Novel The hotels chief house detective Ogilvie notices the battered car when it comes back. Instead of reporting this to the police, he goes to see the Duke and the Duchess. He promises to keep quiet about what he knows and asks for a lar
10、ge sum of money in return for the favour.,About the novel Hotel,THE DUKE, NOW TOTALLY AT A LOSS AS TO HOW TO ACT, HIDES BEHIND THE SKIRT OF HER WIFE. THE DUCHESS UNDERSTANDS THAT TO GET THEMSELVES OUT OF THIS MESS, THE CAR HAS TO BE DRIVEN OUT OF THE SOUTH WHERE PEOPLE ARE ALERTED ABOUT THE HIT-AND-
11、RUN. SO SHE OFFERS TO PAY OGILVIE MORE THAN HE HAS ASKED ON CONDITION THAT HE DRIVES THE CAR TO CHICAGO UP IN THE NORTH. THE GREEDY DETECTIVE AGREES. AT ONE OCLOCK THURSDAY MORNING OGILVIE GETS THE CAR OUT OF THE GARAGE.,He is seen leaving by one person only, by Peter McDermott, the assistant genera
12、l manager. Though it strikes him as odd, Peter does not link this up with the hit-and-run until late that afternoon when he witnesses the funeral of the two victims of the accident. . He contacts police headquarters right away. By this time,Ogilvie has crossed Louisiana and Mississippi, driving by n
13、ight and concealing the car by day. He thinks that everything is going smoothly, little knowing that he is already being followed by the Highway patrol cruisers. In Tennessee, he is caught and sent back to New Orleans.,At first the Duchess tries to deny everything, but doesnt succeed in convincing t
14、he police. The Duke then decides to go over to police headquarters before they come for him, wishing to save the little shreds of decency left in him. He takes an elevator to go down. This elevator which has been out of order for some time and badly in need of repair breaks down. As it goes down, on
15、e set of clamps holds and the other fails. The elevator car twists, buckles and splits open, throwing the Duke nine floors down to the cement ground. He dies instantly.,However, the novel ends with a pleasant surprise. A sick, old eccentric man staying in the hotel turns out to be an extremely wealt
16、hy man from Montreal, Canada. Earlier, he fell seriously ill and was saved by Peter and his girl friend. To show his gratitude and repay their kindness, he buys the hotel from its former owner and makes Peter the new executive vice-president, with complete authority to run the hotel as he thinks fit
17、.,Introduction to the Passage,1. Type of literature: a piece of narration -character, action, conflicts, climax and denouement 2. Main idea 3. Organization: -introduction -development -climax -conclusion,Setting:,The story happened in a hotel named St. Gregory in New Orleans, Louisiana which is in t
18、he south of US,The structure of the text,Part 1 : pars 1-21. Both parties are equally strong in power. Part 2: pars 22-47. The power of Duchess is gradual declining, until she has completely collapsed, while the power of Ogilvie is increasingly strengthened and then plays a dominating role in their
19、conversation. Part 3: Pars 48-74. The conversation goes friendly, like a talk between friends rather than rivals. Ogilvie still plays a dominating role. Although Duchess is under the control of Ogilvie, she is ready to counterattack when it is possible. Part 4: Pars 75- 109. By making full use of Og
20、ivlies greed, Duchess seizes the opportunity to turn the defeat into victory (反败为胜),Part 1,A. Appreciation-Characterization: Ogilvie: Appearance: piggy eyes (small, narrow eyes lost in the mass of flesh) Gross jowled face (gross: big, fat, jowl: the fleshy, hanging part under the lower jaw) Obese bo
21、dy/ Thick, fleshy fingers/Speaks in falsetto (an artificial way of singing or speaking, in which the voice is placed in a register much higher than that of the natural voice) Bulbous countenance,Personality: cunning, sophisticated, professional detective,Ungrammatical sentences and slangs e.g. “ pre
22、tty neat set-up you folks got.”: Neat : nice, set-up: arrangement of furniture. e.g. “ like that car of yours. The one you keep here in the hotel. Jaguar, aint it?” e.g. f you want it the other way, just say so. e.g. sos: so as so that,colloquialism and slang words,e.g. pretty neat set-up you folks
23、got. Neat is slangy, meaning nice, fine e.g. “ I told you cut it out!” e.g. Dont play games, lady. This is for real. Slang unscrupulous, greedy e.g. he lit the fresh cigar. “ now were getting somewhere.” Get somewhere : make progress. e.g. “ but I come to you first” (to show his cunning ,greedy ,ill
24、 nature, take the advantage of others misfortune, ,),Duchess,tactful 1). the Duke and Duchess were excessively frayed when the muted buzzer of the outer door eventually sounded. 2). (paragraph 2) the Duchess dispatched her maid, and instructed the male secretary to go out for a walk. It indicates th
25、at she is well-prepared for the coming of intruder. 3). “ in what conceivable way does my concern you?” to make sure of her puzzle , whether Ogilvie mentions the car purposely or occasionally. well-educated , a woman of strong character, firm In contrast with Ogilvie, the Duchess always speaks with
26、good grammar, and formal diction.,e.g. 1). the Duchess looked pointed at the half-burned cigar look pointed at: directly and sharply at the cigar. The Duchess tries to intimidate him with her superior social position. 2). “would you kindly put that out.” - a period instead of a question mark, indica
27、ting it is an order rather than a request,1). “would you kindly put that out.” - a period instead of a question mark, indicating it is an order rather than a request. 2). seated herself in a straight-backed chair. Ogilvie remained standing. She sits and he stands. It shows their different social sta
28、tus, sitting on a straight-backed chair indicates her superiority. .,3) The Dutchess of Croydonthree centuries of inbred arrogance behind her-did not yield easily. Duchess: imperious, dominating 4). springing to her feet, her face wrathful “You unspeakable blackguard! How dare you!” hearing this , s
29、he cant stay calm but lose her temper.,What can we infer about the Duke from his emission? He is a simple-minded man.,Duke: (according to the novel: famous statesman, newly-appointed British ambassador to Washington), fond of gambling, liquor and women, coward, weak-minded, submissive to his wife e.
30、g “Aah!”: an emission from the Duke.,His wife shot him a swift warning glance. Shot him: look at him sharply. It indicates that she plays a dominant role in the family.,The function of cigar Pay attention to an important tool, a symbolthe cigar (read all sentences referring to the cigar) A series of
31、 acts with cigar: e.g. He came in with a cigar. Knocked off its ash, flipped the butt, fell on the carpet . waved the cigar in front of her.,Notes: Lord 对有侯、 伯、 子、 男世袭爵位贵族的尊称 The Lords 英国上议院,A cigar for him is a tool to humiliate the Duchess rather than the cigar itself,Duchess Ogilvie Would you kin
32、dly put that out. A wave of cigar accompanied him Her lips tightened Taking the time, butt fell on the carpet Wrinkled her nose, no comment Leisurely puffing a cloud of cigar smoke He paused to puff again This cigar bothering you,Part 2 A. Appreciation: (After the evidence is shown, the relative str
33、ength of the two sides changes) Duchesss side: struggling(挣扎), yet is declining in power.,1 wearily, in a gesture of surrender, the Duchess of Croydon sank back into her chair. (a sign of declination of her power) 2 clasping her hands to conceal their trembling: she is unyielding. 3. his eyes sardon
34、ically on the Duchess as if challenging her objection. But beyond wrinkling her nose in distaste, she made no comment. Sign of decreasing of her power, and sign of increasing of his power.,4. The Duchess interrupted. “Then you dont know! You dont know anything for sure! ” It seems to Duchess that ev
35、erything mentioned is based on Ogilvies presupposition, because he hasnt provided any valuable evidence for the crime. Conclusion: she is unyielding and firm lady. She hasnt given up yet. She will grasp any opportunity to fight back. 5.the Duchess breathed. “Go on.”: she gradually turns to be obedie
36、nt.,Ogielvies side: growing gradually strong, and then taking the dominating position,the house detective took his time, leisurely puffing a cloud of blue cigar smoke: (The description of his smoking act. Leisurely puffing: he gets a bit tired of the first round of verbal attack.) 2. grinning, at th
37、e Duchess : (Ogilvie speaks the details very slowly: he is enjoying the moment of humiliating the Duchess.),.,The discussion about the evidence,headlight trimming ; headlight glass; the blood. Question one: which evidence is the most important? Answer: the blood , which is the fatal evidence of kill
38、ing.,Question two,How does Ogilvie arrange the three evidences in his words? Answer: he first mentions headlight , then the glass, finally the blood. Ogilvie has waited for mentioning about blood for so long, which is the trump card (王牌)of the evidences，and which is the reason why he dares to humili
39、ate again and again however, When he mentions the last fatal evidence, instead of saying “ there is very important evidence ,that is blood” ,He actually slides to the topic mentioning about the blood very casually, “even without the brush trace an the blood, oh yeah I ”. but the effect of such calm
40、words is a death blow to the Duchess. “oh my God!,” a hand to her face, the Duchess turned away. And such effect is what indeed Ogilvie wants. Ogilvie knows clearly, in front of the arrogant firm lady, harsh and tough words mean nothing.,He deliberately chooses the casual way to mention the deadly e
41、vidence, which achieves the strong impact on the Duchess. Conclusion: he is a sophisticated man.,“ oh ,my God!” a hand to her face, the Duchess turned away. She completely surrenders The end of round two: Ogilvie wins. Duchess surrenders temporarily.,Part three: A. Unlike the situations in the previ
42、ous two parts, the conversation tends to become friendly, and it goes on in a somewhat casual way. Ogilvie and Duchess are more like friends than rivals. It seems they are discussing and try to work out a solution to a problem together. e.g. Duchess - balancing- - Ogilvie Her husband asked, “What do
43、 you propose to do?”pp.48,I was hoping”, Ogilvie said, “that you folks could suggest something.” “I understand,” the Duchess of the Croydon said.”,You want money, dont you? You came her to blackmail us.” “ All I come for was to help you people out of the trouble. But I got to live.” “ Youd accept mo
44、ney to keep silent about what you know? “I reckon I might.” The end of round three: the conversation is with less gun-powder and more friendly,:,Part four,Appreciation By making full use of Ogivlies greed, Duchess seizes the opportunity to turn the defeat into victory (反败为胜). After the deal is made:
45、 Duchess Take the complete control of the situation, Powerful, demanding -off-balance- Ogilvie - submissive, obedient,Detailed study,1. blackmail: the obtaining of money or advancement by threatening to make known unpleasant facts about a person or group,Detailed study,Croydon: The name of a manor s
46、upposed to belong the Duke Duke / Duchess marquis(marquess)/ marchioness count / countess viscount / viscountess baron / baroness,Detailed study,2. suite: a set or rooms. A suite in a hotel is usually expensive. The suite the Croydons are staying in is St. Gregory Hotels largest and most elaborate,
47、called the Presidential Suite.,Detailed study,3. cryptic: hidden, secret, mysterious 4. excessively frayed excessive: derog. too much, too great, too large Excessive rainfall washes out valuable minerals from the soil.,Detailed study,If you sell the article at that price, the profit will be excessiv
48、e. excessive profit,Detailed study,fray: a. to cause rope, cloth etc. to become thin or worn by rubbing, so that loose threads develop frayed button holes His shirt is frayed at the neck / elbows.,Detailed study,b. to cause a persons temper, nerves, etc. to become worn out His nerves were frayed by
49、the noises in the street.,Detailed study,5. eventually: in the end, especially after a lot of delays, problems, or argument. All men will eventually die.,Detailed study,6. dispatch: (fml.) to send away / off with promptness for a particular reason or in order to carry out a particular task The cruiser despatched boats to rescue the survivors.,Detailed study,7. errand: a short journey made to get sth. or to carry a messag