six The Mountain Amanda Fergusson climbs Mount Ararat, the landing site of Ark, – – Noah’s as a pilgrimage to challenge her father’s atheist spirit. Ironically, “Spike ‘Touchdown’ Tiggler and three chapters (Buxton 77), discovers Amanda’s abandoned remains 136 years – – later” exclaiming, have ourselves a and miracle!” “We (274), mistaking Miss Fergusson’s 136-year-old skeleton for that of thousand-plus year-old skeleton. In the and final chapter Noah’s novel’s tenth The Dream the unnamed narrator awakes in a contemporary version of heaven where – – everyone gets what he wants. The irony of this chapter exists in the narrator’s dissatisfaction with his customizable heaven and everything that he wants. The narrator asks his heavenly what sort [of heaven do] they want on the assistant, “And whole?” (298) She answers, “they want a continuation of life but better, needless to Finney points that … … say” (299). out, “What turns out to be in practice is principally golf, sex, shopping, and meeting famous people, all of which activities reveal their underlying banality as the The critic millennia pass by” (57). continues in saying that the narrator and the rest of contemporary inhabitants ironically heaven’s become that they opt to die off for a second these many examples of “so bored time” (58). Using situational irony, Barnes creates a satire in many of the chapters in his novel. As another tool in uses a bewildering variety of satirizing history’s authority, “Barnes narrative voices for the (Finney 52) to the books different episodes” “unsettle reader’s confidence about the difference between truth and fiction, between history and story” (Moseley 112). As an example of this unsettling, Kath in The Survivor tells her story in a present-tense first-person narrative but is and (Moseley 114) with a third-person narrator “framed interspersed” which makes it impossible for the reader to know which voice is true. These different voices tell different stories. When Kath wakes up in a hospital bed with men interrogating her, the stories narrative follows her first-person narrative of course conversation: “I replied, still victorious. ‘So
six – The Mountain – Amanda Fergusson climbs Mount Ararat, the landing site of Noah’s Ark, as a pilgrimage to challenge her father’s atheist spirit. Ironically, “Spike ‘Touchdown’ Tiggler discovers Amanda’s abandoned remains 136 years – and three chapters – later” (Buxton 77), exclaiming, “We have ourselves a miracle!” (274), and mistaking Miss Fergusson’s 136-year-old skeleton for that of Noah’s thousand-plus year-old skeleton. In the novel’s tenth and final chapter – The Dream – the unnamed narrator awakes in a contemporary version of heaven where everyone gets what he wants. The irony of this chapter exists in the narrator’s dissatisfaction with his customizable heaven and everything that he wants. The narrator asks his heavenly assistant, “And what sort [of heaven do] they want on the whole?” (298) She answers, “they want a continuation of life … but … better, needless to say” (299). Finney points out, “What that turns out to be in practice is principally golf, sex, shopping, and meeting famous people, all of which activities reveal their underlying banality as the millennia pass by” (57). The critic continues in saying that the narrator and the rest of contemporary heaven’s inhabitants ironically become “so bored that they opt to die off for a second time” (58). Using these many examples of situational irony, Barnes creates a satire in many of the chapters in his novel. As another tool in satirizing history’s authority, “Barnes uses a bewildering variety of narrative voices for the books different episodes” (Finney 52) to “unsettle the reader’s confidence about the difference between truth and fiction, between history and story” (Moseley 112). As an example of this unsettling, Kath in The Survivor tells her story in a present-tense first-person narrative but is “framed and interspersed” (Moseley 114) with a third-person narrator which makes it impossible for the reader to know which voice is true. These different voices tell different stories. When Kath wakes up in a hospital bed with men interrogating her, the stories narrative follows her first-person narrative conversation: “I replied, still victorious. ‘So of course