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According to Teresa Bridgeman, author of the article Thinking Ahead: A Cognitive Approach to Prolepsis, prolepsis is a narrative technique which requires the construction of a minimal and usually incomplete mental representation which the reader must hold in memory and be prepared to recall at a later point in the reading process. By using this technique, the narrator of the story is omniscient and timeless. As I discovered, prolepsis is far less common in narrative fiction than its counterpart, analepsis, or flashback, but it is obvious that it is Sparks analytical concept of choice. The main narrative following Mary MacGregor is developed with brief excerpts from her future, allowing the reader to see how she will develop and transform through the influence of their teacher. Throughout the novel, the girls various reputations are primarily determined by Miss

Brodie, who identifies their skills and attributes and characterizes them accordingly. Although this book is narrated by an omniscient narrator, there are good reasons to question the narrators authority. This enables readers to challenge the narrators characterization of one character in particular, Mary Macgregor. Because of the narrators use of the technique of prolepsis, we know how and when Mary Macgregor is going to die, and since this knowledge is continually in the back of the readers mind, instances in her life seem to foreshadow her death. I am going to read you a passage on page 13 of the novel. After we are told Mary dies at 24, and we hear about her death, now were back to her at age 10. The narration jumps around, and what the narrator has done is thrown the reader into a tailspin. The narrator ends sentences by saying she was clumsy and incompetent when the rest of the sentence didnt suggest that whatsoever. Spark is suggesting such things

without giving explanations or reasons, which doesnt allow the reader to come to their own conclusion of Mary. An instance of foreshadowing occurs in the chemistry classroom after Mary is frightened by magnesium flares shot out of test tubes during a first week experiment. (SLIDE) This passage is on page 81 in the novel. The phrase ran hither and thither brings readers back to an earlier recollection of her death: (SLIDE) Sandy wont talk to me, said Mary who later, in that hotel fire, ran hither and thither till she died. When I first read that, I thought What relevance does this have? Why is the narrator continually bringing up Marys future death? And the phrase appears again near the end, when we are told that Sandy heard again from Miss Brodie at the time of Mary Macgregors death, when the girl ran hither and thither in the hotel fire and was trapped by it (136). This is on the second to last page of the novel, and we are again reminded of Marys death. (SLIDE) Teresa Bridgeman states, Spark ensures, though, that we will retain the death scene as a situation model by repeating the image of Mary running backwards and forwards. The function of the multiple prolepses here is thus to cue a very specific link between Mary's present and future (135-6). As a result, the prolepsis that depicts her death causes readers to view Mary by the narrators descriptions of her. The way the narration portrays Mary makes it almost impossible for readers to sympathize with her suffering. Thus, we are involved in the narrators victimization of Mary. Social belonging is a primary human need. Research suggests that people are more psychologically healthy when part of social groups. To the contrary, being excluded or isolated can be very emotionally painful and associated with a number of negative effects such as anxiety, depression, anger, and shame. Early positive attachments and being integrated into a responsive relationship with ones peers is clearly necessary for mental health and well being. As

a child ages into adolescence, the need for peer group membership develops. Peer rejection in adolescence is found to have an especially negative impact as compared to at a younger age. Adolescents rely on peers as a basis of comparison for appraising themselves for social and personal worth, because of their increased reliance on peers for guidance, support and intimacy. As a result, adolescents who are not accepted typically have problems in identity development and forming a sense of personal worth and self-concept, which is evident in Mary. In an article called There's Something about Mary: Narrative and Ethics in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie located in the Journal of Narrative Theory, Peter Robert Brown states, Marys behavior when she dies resembles her behavior in the chemistry class, and her responses to flames suggest a characteristic pattern of behavior (240). In addition, the phrase ran hither and thither suggests the irrational and thoughtless behavior of one who is unintelligent, as the narrator reiterates when referring to Mary. Brown explains, Because Mary has already been called stupid by the narrator, we might see her death as a sad but fitting end . . . even though there is no reason to believe that she would have escaped had she been more intelligent, (240). Sparks use of prolepsis targets the way readers often think about people in real life. For example, if a person knew a girl quite well in high school and later learned that she died in her twenties in a hotel fire, every time they thought of the girl they would associate her with that fatal fire. The repetition of the phrase ran hither and thither also provides rhythm to the narrative, almost like a refrain, when referring to Mary. In Browns article, he identifies how a pattern concerning the narration of the novel reveals qualities about Marys reputation and how Mary is victimized not only by Miss Brodie and her set but also by the narrator and the narrative of the novel:

Whereas the reputations of the other girls are qualified, even negated, by the narrators irony as well as by the unfolding of the plot, Marys reputation seems fixed; she remains stupid, lump-like, and blamable. In part, this is achieved through the narrators and Miss Brodies repeated descriptions of her as stupid, but it is also achieved through the prolepsis of her death. (239) Consider a scene in the beginning of the novel where Mary Macgregor is not initially standing with the other girls, but she soon joins them: Along came Mary Macgregor, the last member of the set, whose fame rested on her being a silent lump, a nobody whom everybody could blame (4). In this scene, the narrator is not describing Mary but her fame and the ways in which she is perceived and treated by others. By telling us that Marys fame rests on her being a silent lump, a nobody whom everybody could blame, the narrator is verifying specific claims about Mary that she is a silent lump, and she is a nobody whom everybody can blame. Through her irony, Spark involves readers in the victimization of Mary and enables them to become aware of that involvement. In some instances, being a victim can be powerful position. When one can convince others that they are a victim, it becomes possible to control others behavior, primarily through guilt. This particular type of power can be insidious. For example, attempts to point out the ability to control others behavior can easily be denounced as merely "blaming the victim". Now consider a scene on page ten: Miss Brodie, noticing that Mary is not paying attention, asks her what she is looking at. Before gaining Marys response, we read, Mary Macgregor, lumpy, with merely two eyes . . . was later famous for being stupid and always to blame. . . (10-11). Here, the narrators description of Mary is reiterated and contributes to

labeling Mary as lump-like and stupid. As a result, if readers accept the narrators description, they might find themselves among those who identify Mary as stupid and lump-like. Brown states, In identifying Mary as stupid, the narrator is ethically judging her, evaluating her moral worth, and endorsing the judgments of Miss Brodie, who repeatedly calls Mary stupid (235). Through this narrative technique, Mary is victimized and almost unknowingly, readers are involved. Thus far, Mary is characterized as stupid and lump-like, as mentioned in the previous scene. However, the narrator has not yet proved Mary as blamable, a quality in which Mary is attributed for being famous, which signals readers to pay attention to the upcoming process of Mary repeatedly being blamed by Miss Brodie. An instance in which Mary is blamed occurs when Miss Brodie discovers a chipped rim of a teacup while spending time with Sandy and Jenny at Mr. Lowthers residence. Miss Brodie states, Mary Macgregor must have chipped it. . . Mary was here last Sunday with Eunice and they washed up together. Mary must have chipped it (94). Miss Brodies multiple utterances of blaming Mary may cause readers to think Is she trying to convince herself that Mary is to blame, or trying to convince us? Despite these characterizations, Miss Brodie never calls Mary lump-like. Miss Brodie does not seem to judge Marys appearance negatively at this point. In characterizing Mary as lump-like, the narrator is agreeing with the judgments of whichever group among whom Mary is famous for being so, whether that group is the Brodie set, the student body, or the school in general. The ways in which a persons appearance and manner are sometimes mistaken for personality attributes, especially among schoolchildren; is frequent, which as a result, leads readers to think that the narrators description of Mary resembles that of a school bully.

In the final chapter, Miss Brodie again blames Mary in a letter to Sandy. Miss Brodie is contemplating which girl in her set has betrayed her, and she automatically and initially suspects Mary. This is yet another instance in which why Mary is famous for being blamed. Miss Brodie says, I think first of Mary Macgregor. Perhaps Mary had nursed a grievance, in her stupidity of mind, against me she is such an exasperating young woman (135). The content of the novels narrative and the way in which events are related contribute to Marys victimization, by, in this case specifically, Miss Brodie. One final aspect worth mentioning is the association between the readers knowledge of Marys death and the guilt the other protagonists experience over their unkind treatment of her throughout their childhood. An example of this occurs on the girls walk through one of the poor districts of Edinburgh. Sandy considers being kind to Mary, but when she hears Miss Brodies voice, she becomes terrified: She was even more frightened then, by her temptation to be nice to Mary Macgregor, since by this action she would separate herself, and be lonely, and blamable in a more dreadful way than Mary who, although officially the faulty one, was at least inside Miss Brodies category of heroines in the making (30). In order to avoid becoming the outsider, Sandy asserts her devotion to Miss Brodie and the set by cruelly telling Mary, I wouldnt be walking with you if Jenny was here (Brown, 243-4). Through this narration, Sandy accepts and confirms Marys status as a scapegoat, or a person made to bear the blame for others. Mary is ridiculed and scorned by Miss Brodie, and the other students follow suit, valuing their status with their teacher over being kind to Mary. Miss Brodie pushes Mary out of art class, accusing her for instigating the misconduct begun by others. Miss Brodie and the students see Mary as a thing to be kicked around with impunity. Only knowledge of her untimely death at twenty-three causes her peers to momentarily regret the way they treated her.

As a scapegoat, Marys status within the Brodie set is ambiguous. Mary is an insider at the same time that she is a scapegoat. In some ways, Mary is both inside and outside of the Brodie set, for she can be excluded from the group whenever they see fit. In addition, she is initially characterized as stupid and lump-like, and her role and function as scapegoat follow from those descriptions. It is her status as a scapegoat that illustrates the way in which she is reduced to such descriptions throughout the novel. It is possible that readers may pity Mary, just as they may be appalled by the ways in which she is treated, but the narration and narrative techniques make it difficult for readers to fully sympathize with Mary. Brown explains, Since readers unquestioningly accept the narrators descriptions of Mary as stupid and lump-likeand since we are given few other characteristics by which we can identify herwe risk joining those who so label her and victimize her, even if we find their behavior ethically atrocious (245). A further study that remains to be conducted is how Mary Macgregors victimization relates to the reality of fascist and Nazi racism and oppression. Mary dies in a fire in 1943, at the same time when millions of people were being detained in Nazi death camps. Thus, Marys role and fate in the novel demonstrate the effects of domination and defeat. It became evident that Spark causes readers to reflect on the narrative and the ways in which ethics and victimization are handled. She also causes readers to question ones own personal ethical response to a narrative, which in turn, results in questioning ones evaluation of people in real life situations. The way Spark writes allows readers to reflect on the role that narrative and narration play in the process of victimization and also on the ways in which readers become involved in the process.

A persons moral worth is not dependant on their intelligence, and Marys intelligence (or lack of) should be irrelevant. However, because of Miss Brodies authority and power, Marys intellectual weaknesses are interpreted as failures, and she is repeatedly narrated in situations that determine and define her character within these boundaries.

Works Cited Bridgeman, Teresa. Thinking Ahead: A Cognitive Approach to Prolepsis. Ohio State University Press: Narrative. 13.2 (2005), 125-159. Brown, Peter Robert. "'There's Something about Mary:' Narrative and Ethics in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." Journal of Narrative Theory 36.2 (2006), 228-253. Spark, Muriel. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. New York: Harper Perennial, 1994.