The use of contrasts

Your exam task asks you to look at the use of contrasts in the story “The Arcade” by Alan Gillespie. 

Firstly, contrasts are shown when looking at the characters of the story. Bill and Gaynor are old, with grey hair and wrinkled skin, whereas the sales assistants they talk to are all young, slender, and peppy. The text constantly highlights their age.

At the same time, however, the age difference between the elderly couple and the sales assistants might also come with a difference in perspective and life experience. Bill and Gaynor are able to fool the naïve sales assistants with their stories and get free champagne while not actually buying anything. It also seems like Bill and Gaynor are exploiting their age to fool the assistants, as no one would normally suspect two elderly citizens of fraud.

Bill and Gaynor’s attit...