Literature in English (0475) | no. 47 Aminatta Forna, ‘Haywards Heath’

Welcome to Aminatta Forna's 'Haywards Heath'

Hi there! Studying short stories for IGCSE Literature is fantastic because they pack huge ideas into small spaces. Aminatta Forna’s ‘Haywards Heath’ is one of the most powerful stories in your syllabus, dealing with feelings of home, loss, and mixed identity.

This prose text appears in Paper 1 (Section B). To succeed, you need to know the plot, understand the big themes, and explain *how* Forna uses language to make you feel what the narrator feels (this is called the writer’s methods). Let’s dive in!

Section 1: Knowledge and Context (AO1)

What is 'Haywards Heath' About?

The story is narrated by a young girl looking back on a massive change in her life: the moment she and her mother left Sierra Leone (West Africa) for England, settling in the seemingly ordinary, cold town of Haywards Heath.

Quick Plot Summary

• The Departure: The narrator and her English mother leave Africa (where the narrator’s father remains). The departure is sudden and deeply felt by the child.
• The Journey: The experience of moving continents is described as bewildering, especially the difference in climate and atmosphere.
• Arrival in England: They settle in Haywards Heath, a commuter town in Sussex. The setting is dull, cold, and quiet—a stark contrast to the vivid memories of Africa.
• Displacement: The core of the story is the narrator’s struggle to reconcile her African memories and identity with her new, English reality. She feels like an outsider in her mother’s homeland.

Key Characters

1. The Narrator (The Young Girl):
She is the heart of the story. She is highly observant and sensitive. She measures her new environment against her memory of her old one.
Key Trait: A powerful sense of Displacement (feeling like you don't belong).

2. The Mother:
She is English and has returned to her homeland, but she is also struggling. Her focus shifts to order and control in the small English town, perhaps as a way to cope with the emotional chaos of her failed marriage and move.
Key Trait: Seeking stability and 'normality.'

Section 2: Understanding Themes (AO2)

Themes are the big ideas the writer wants you to think about. For ‘Haywards Heath,’ the themes revolve around identity and belonging.

1. Identity and Biculturalism

The narrator has an African father and an English mother. This story explores the challenge of having a split identity.

• She feels more connected to the place she left (Africa) than the place she has arrived (England).
• Her memories of Africa are rich and sensory; her experience of England is stark and dull.
• The town of Haywards Heath represents her mother’s culture, but it doesn't feel like *her* culture.

Did you know? Aminatta Forna herself has a similar background (Scottish mother, Sierra Leonean father), making the themes of displacement highly authentic and personal.

2. Displacement and Alienation

Displacement means being moved from your place or culture. The narrator feels alienated (cut off or isolated) in Haywards Heath.

• She views her new home through the eyes of an outsider. The orderly English garden and the weather seem strange and unfriendly.
• The mother attempts to create a sense of belonging through physical order, but this fails to soothe the narrator’s emotional pain. Example: The mother focuses obsessively on the house, perhaps trying to control the uncontrollable emotional mess.

3. Memory and Nostalgia

The past is not truly past for the narrator; it lives vividly through her memories, creating a deep nostalgia (a longing for something far away or long ago).

Forna often contrasts the *memory* of Africa with the *reality* of England. The vibrancy of Freetown is a painful contrast to the "dull light" and "cold" of Haywards Heath.

Section 3: Writer’s Methods (AO3)

How does Forna make these feelings real? By using specific literary techniques (methods). When analyzing, always ask: *What* is the technique, and *What effect* does it create?

1. Narrative Voice: First-Person Reflection

The story is told in the first person ("I"). This gives us direct access to the narrator’s deepest feelings and memories. Since it’s a reflection (looking back), the older narrator uses mature, thoughtful language to describe the pain of her childhood self.

Effect: It creates a deeply personal and intimate tone, forcing the reader to empathize with her feeling of loneliness.

2. Use of Sensory Imagery (The Power of Contrast)

Forna uses intense sensory details to highlight the difference between the two places. This technique is called Juxtaposition (placing two contrasting things side-by-side).

A. African Imagery (Heat, Light, Noise)

These images are vibrant and linked to family:
Example: The description of the sun, the "hot, dusty smell," and the sounds of life. This creates a feeling of warmth, freedom, and belonging.

B. English Imagery (Cold, Damp, Quiet)

These images are monochrome (lack of colour) and linked to isolation:
Example: The "damp chill" on the train, the "mist," and the "grey skies." Haywards Heath is often described in terms of its quietness and order, which feels like a form of emotional stiffness to the narrator.

3. Symbolism of the Setting (Haywards Heath)

The town of Haywards Heath is more than just a place; it symbolizes the cultural shift and the mother’s desperate attempt to build a new life.

• The Name: It sounds utterly ordinary and almost forgettable—a contrast to the unforgettable, exotic sound of Freetown.
• The Train Journey: The long, cold train ride to Haywards Heath acts as a physical metaphor for the emotional distance the narrator has travelled from her home.

Section 4: Exam Strategy and Personal Response (AO4)

The IGCSE exam requires you to offer an informed personal response (AO4). This means backing up your feelings about the text with evidence (quotes) and analysis (methods).

How to Analyze the Extract

Often, the exam question will give you an extract focusing on a specific moment—perhaps the train ride, or the description of the new house. Use this simple structure:

Step 1: Identify the Feeling

What is the main emotion or theme in this section? (e.g., isolation, hope, memory).
Common Mistake: Just summarizing the plot. Fix: Explain the *mood* or *tension* of the passage.

Step 2: Quote the Method (AO3)

Find a short, strong quotation showing how Forna creates that feeling.
Example: If the feeling is coldness, quote: "The world was white and silent."

Step 3: Explain the Effect (AO3/AO4)

Explain what the method does to the reader or the narrator.
Example: The words "white and silent" use colour imagery and lack of sound, emphasizing the sudden, unsettling emptiness of the English landscape compared to the vibrant life the narrator remembers. This makes the reader appreciate the extent of her culture shock.

Encouraging Note

Don't worry if you find the themes of displacement tricky! Remember that the feeling of being homesick or feeling awkward in a new place is universal. If you can connect the narrator's specific details (the cold, the quiet street) to that universal feeling, you are already achieving a strong personal response (AO4).

Key Quotations to Remember

• Describing the Mother’s new focus: "she needed order around her." (Shows her coping mechanism.)
• Describing the African connection: "That was the sun of my childhood, the sun that still beat upon my memory." (Shows the power of memory.)
• Describing the English climate: "a smell of wet wool and damp earth... the heavy, familiar damp chill." (Sensory imagery defining the new environment.)