Plot: Flashbacks to Michael's death – Higher English SQA Revision

Plot: Flashbacks to Michael’s Death

This recurring sequence of scenes in The Trick is to Keep Breathing deals with Joy’s fragmented memories of her lover Michael’s accidental death.
Joy’s repressed guilt and overwhelming grief cause her to constantly relive this tragic event through disjointed flashbacks.
The fragmented, dreamlike quality of these flashbacks illustrates Joy’s difficulty in fully acknowledging and processing Michael’s death.

Narrative interplay between the past and present serves to show the inescapable influence of Michael’s death on Joy’s mental state.
Joy’s internal dialogue with herself and with the memory of Michael reveals the depth of her unresolved feelings and guilt.
Joy’s interactions with people in the present often trigger these memories, highlighting her struggle to move on.

The flashbacks to Michael’s death set the foundation for Joy’s mental breakdown and underpin the novel’s exploration of grief and loss.
The repeated revisiting of Michael’s death underscores its status as a traumatic event in Joy’s life that she is unable to move past.
The fragmented nature of the flashbacks suggests the damage Michael’s death has done to Joy’s psyche, supporting Galloway’s exploration of the psychological impact of loss.

Grief: Michael’s death acts as a catalyst for Joy’s despair, with the flashbacks emphasising her profound sense of loss.
Guilt: The repeated flashbacks highlight Joy’s guilt over not being able to prevent Michael’s death.
Memory: The fragmented and disjointed portrayal of the flashbacks shows how trauma can warp and manipulate memory, making it a source of continuous pain.

“In my mind, he is always falling.” - Joy’s recurring image of Michael falling represents her ongoing trauma and inability to escape his tragic end.
“I should have been there with him.” - This declaration of guilt from Joy reflects her powerful feelings of regret over Michael’s death.
“The drowning feeling comes again.” - This metaphor communicates Joy’s struggle to resurface from her overwhelming grief and guilt over his death.