TWO CARAVANS

by MARINA LEWYCKA
Develop a mind map woven around strawberries.
Develop a mind map woven around migration, then a word field.
While reading keep notes on the characters and their development:
Yola
Marta
Irina
Andriy
Tomasz
Emanuel
2 Chinese girls
Vitaly
Vulk
Why do they immigrate? What are their dreams/aims?
What do we learn about their past?
What are their attitudes towards life in Great Britain and the British?
How do the British come across? (E.g. the Dumpling)
Which stereotypes are used?
What do we find out about the situation of (illegal) immigrants in GB?
What do you think about the authors idea to tell part of the story from the
perspective of a dog? What is the purpose behind this?
What do we learn about factory farming? In your opinion, why does the
author include this issue in her novel?
What is the mood of this novel?

(Questions up to p.119)

What have we learned so far about Yola`s background?

What is her situation in England?
What have we learned so far about Andriy`s background?
Who is Vulk?
Who is Wendy(the blonde, who grabs Andriy), what does she do
and why?
Why does Andriy have to flee?
Where to do they go and how do they travel?
Characterize Irina.
Answers
Character descriptions
Yola
Yola is a Polish woman, who comes to England every summer, to earn
some money for her family at home. She has got a sister and a son with
Downs syndrome, called Mirek, back in Poland. At the strawberry farm she
is the supervisor, so she often bosses the others about and earns the
most. Yola is 47 years old and has a rather pessimistic attitude towards
life, maybe because she is unlucky in love. The father of her son has left
them and so she starts having affairs, for example with Farmer Leapish,
but none of the men accepts her son. Despite her bad manners and her
frequent rudeness, Tomasz falls for her. But she pretends to be
unapproachable and keeps him in suspense for quite a long time, until she
finally starts to tolerate him and they go back to Poland together.
Marta
Marta is Yolas niece and she is 30 years old. She isnt married, but
educated and very religious. She likes to cook and often invents new
recipes, because the choice of groceries is limited. For sure, she is rather
unobtrusive and doesnt want to offend anyone. The others value her for
her reliability, generosity and team spirit.

Irina

Irina is a nineteen-year-old girl from the Ukraine who comes to England to

improve her English skills before going to university. She has got no clue
what work in England will be like and she expects to meet only cultured,
brave and warm-hearted people. Her dream is to become a writer and as
she comes from a good home and is even a little spoiled, she is not used
to working hard at all. Irina is prejudiced, especially against Andriy, and
thinks he is rather primitive and not sophisticated enough for her. She and
Yola dont get on well with each other, which may be caused by Irinas
superficiality or her character in general.
Most of the time, and especially in front of people she doesnt know well,
she pretends to have everything well in hand and doesnt show her real
feelings. That makes it difficult for others to come closer and makes her
seem conceited.

Andriy
Andriy is 25 years old and comes from the Ukraine, like Irina. But he is
from another part of the country and even of a different social class,
because his father was a miner. He is seven years old when he comes to
England for the first time and meets a girl, who he thinks is called Vagvaga
Riskegipd. Since then, he cant forget her but doesnt see her again in the
end, because he finds out that she is already married. Andriy is looking for
love and immediately falls in love with Irina. He is quite calm and
courageous most of the time, but tends to behave grumpily. However, his
feelings for Irina are true and he worries for her all the time and tries really
hard to find her. He has got a special connection with the Dog and is able
to live with very little, because of his rather humble background. Although
he isnt as educated as Irina, his views on life in general and on the
development of the society are very critical.

Tomasz
Tomasz, 45 years old, from Poland, was a government bureaucrat and
comes to Great Britain, because he hopes for a better life. He claims to be
a poet and loves to play the guitar and sing songs for Yola, because he is
desperately in love with her. His beard and his long hair make him look a
little weird and the others criticise him for the strange smell of his trainers.
He dreams of a future together with Yola. It isnt easy to win her heart, but
he doesnt give up and finally he succeeds and they go back to Poland
together.
Emanuel

Emanuel is the youngest of the strawberry pickers, he has just turned 18

and acts a little naive from time to time. He is from Malawi and likes to
sing especially religious songs, as religion is an important part of his life.
His sister also works in England, as a nurse, but he doesnt know where
exactly and so he tries to find her. Throughout the whole book, he writes
letters to her, explaining his situation in England. He has acted selflessly,
when he prevents his friend Toby McKenzie from prison and is a trustful
person.
What he is most interested in, is to find out more about carnal knowledge,
as the environment he grew up in prevented him from getting in touch
with that subject.
2 Chinese girls
Song Ying, in the beginning known as Chinese Girl One, comes from
southern China and has to overcome some drastic changes in her life. She
is nineteen years old when her mother gets pregnant again and decides to
keep the baby. So there isnt enough money for Song Yings education and
she leaves China to come to England and to study and earn money to be
able to pay the fees herself. She is hard-working, intelligent and ambitious
and wants to fulfil her dream of studying at Bejing University Business
School. However, the college in England isnt what she expected and she
hardly attends any classes, but she gets to know Soo Lai Bee from
Malaysia, also called Chinese Girl Two. Being Chinese in Malaysia isnt easy
and there are many disadvantages. Soo Lai Bee wants to study medicine
there, but because she is Chinese and not Bumiputra, she isnt registered.
Everything gets out of control when she falls in love with the son of her
fathers business partner and so she leaves the country to study in
England. She and Song Ying get on really well with each other and they go
off to pick strawberries together. In the end they leave England, because
Vitaly promises them a better job in Amsterdam, but in fact they end up as
prostitutes.
Vitaly
Vitaly probably changes the most throughout the book, as he starts as a
strawberry picker and finally becomes sort of a businessman, wearing suits
and talking on his mobile phone all the time. He doesnt want to admit it,
but in fact he develops a behaviour thats similar to Vulks. He grew up in
Bendery, a provincial town between Moldova and the Republic of
Transdniestria, where violence rules. His past is very painful, as his father
and his three brothers were killed and his mother died young. A deal with
a wide-boy makes it possible for him to come to Great Britain, where he
starts as a strawberry picker and then suddenly is offered a better job. He
becomes a human solution recruitment consultant, which means that he
finds jobs for desperate (illegal) immigrants. But this job is the beginning

of his end, when he is shot in a restaurant, because another gangster isnt

satisfied with his work.
Vulk
Vulk comes across as a rude, vulgar and ugly guy, who doesnt seem to
know anything about human rights. He is used to getting what he wants all
the time and especially his attitude towards women is very dubious.
Violence is the solution for all of his problems and his English is really bad
with a strong accent. The moment he picks Irina up when she arrives in
England and takes her to the strawberry farm, he is obsessed by her and
wants to own her. This obsession hasnt got anything to do with love; its
only about making profit of her beauty and virginity.

What are their attitudes towards life in Great Britain and the
British?
All of them have a high opinion of life in Great Britain and want to escape
the poverty and the problems at home. They expect a better life there,
but what they find is more sorrow, more problems, and more struggle. The
stories they have heard about the British are about cultured, brave,
romantic and warm-hearted people, but thats not how they come across.

How do the British come across? (E.g. the Dumpling)

In general, the British appear as rude people that dont
live up to their reputation of being warm-hearted, cultured and brave all
the time. The Dumpling, as farmer Leapish is called, is only interested in
making profit of his strawberry field and isnt considerate or likeable. The
McKenzies dont come across as a perfect family, the father is a nice
person, but he likes his drink and the mother wants to conceal that and
their sons problems.
Which stereotypes are used?
- Young Ukrainian girls marry old men because of their money
- English people are romantic and drink lots of tea
- English people look and behave like Mr. and Mrs. Brown from the
textbook (e.g. they always wear a bowler hat)

What do we find out about the situation of (illegal) immigrants in

GB?

They are exploited by their employer and the housing situation is mostly
very bad, sometimes they have to live in a caravan or in one room
together with ten other people. When they arrive, their passport and
working papers are confiscated, to prevent them from escaping. Although
the wage is very low, there are still deductions for food, transport and
accommodation. Often, the illegal immigrants arent treated humanely and
have to do the work no one else wants to do. Another problem is, that
women get less paid than men.
What do you think about the authors idea to tell part of the story
from the perspective of a dog? What is the purpose behind this?
It is interesting to experience some scenes through the eyes of the dog,
because it gives you a completely different view of whats happening. As
dogs have a much better sense of smell than human beings, many
situations are described by focusing on what the dog smells. In my
opinion, the author decides to do that, because she wants to create a
complete story, which examines all the problems from many different
points of view.
What do we learn about factory farming? In your opinion, why
does the author include this issue in her novel?Factory farming is an important subject in the book and we learn a lot
about it from the view of Tomasz, Yola and Marta, who work in chicken
farms for some weeks. The living conditions for the animals are very bad
there and they are treated cruelly. Tomasz experiences how the living
chickens have to suffer, that they dont have any space to move and often
get hurt. They grow very fat and arent able to stand on their own feet
anymore, then they are put into tiny cages to be transported to another
farm, where they get killed. Yola and Marta have to sort out the dead, or
sometimes only half dead, chickens and witness many incomprehensibly
terrible scenes.
In my opinion, the author includes this subject, because factory farming
unfortunately still is popular in many countries and is strongly connected
to illegal immigrants, as most of the workers dont have a residence or
work permit. The poor situation at the chicken farms, for the animals as
well as for the workers, is described very detailed and teaches you a lot
about that sort of farms.

What is the mood of this novel?

The different subjects the author deals with, like economic migration, the
brutality of intensive poultry farming, the exploitation of illegal workers
and human trafficking, are very serious, so its not surprising that the
general mood is quite realistic and sometimes even pessimistic.
Nevertheless, there are also funny parts in the book, to try to get to a
rather relaxed mood at some points.