Describe the most important problem that the main character has to deal with. Is the problem solved in the story? If so, how? If not, why not? Describe how you would have solved the problem if you had been the main character. In ‘A handful of dust’ is Tony Last the main character. He is married to Brenda Last and has a son, John Andrew. He lives in Hetton Estate with a very big property. His most important problem is the death of his son and when his wife, Brenda, leaves him. His son died in an horse accident. Brenda wasn’t that miserable at all. At the funeral she told Tony that she wanted to divorce. First, she cheated on him. She cheated on Tony. Beaver was her lover and she saw him almost every day in her apartment in London. Now, she …show more content…
He is a very sensitive person and really loves Brenda. He appreciates almost everything and that is what I love about him. On the other hand, Brenda is almost the opposite of him. She gets bored with her life in Hetton Estate and is not sensitive when her son dies. She seems to be a sympathetic character at the beginning of the novel, but later in the book you found out that she is not. She is not fair to Tony and that is why I do not like her. Explain the title by referring to the text. Give your opinion about the title and think of an alternative. Give reasons for your choice The title of the novel ‘a handful of dust’ interested me. It think that you can understand the title in many ways. What could a handful of dust mean? It is hard to find. Dust can be apprehend as something dead. Personally, I think that the dust means his life with his son and his wife. When John Andrew dies and his wife, Brenda, wants to divorce, he is very lonely. His wife and son left him. They, the dust, escaped from his hand. So the hand has to be Tony. Now he is all alone and has not got anybody. I think the title is a bad one, because understanding it is very difficult. The book is indeed about losing it all, so in my opinion ‘Lost’ or ‘Losing’ can also be the name of this