TEACHERS GUIDE The Dead Men Stood Together by Chris Priestley SYNOPSIS Gripping, and by turns graphic and lyrical, The Dead Men Stood Together is an ambitious and brilliantly realised reinvention of Samuel Taylor Coleridge s narrative poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, told through the eyes of the mariner s nephew. Set in a harbour town in the distant past, a boy is entranced by his uncle s stories of adventure in exotic lands. Ignoring the accusations of the harbour pilot s strange son (who claims the boy s uncle is the Devil), the boy boards a ship with his uncle, excited about exploring the world and following in his late father s footsteps. The voyage is fraught with difficulties from the outset. The ship is caught in a violent storm and many of the crew lose their lives. When the storm clears, an eerie, all-encompassing mist and coldness descend. The ship becomes trapped in ice and more sailors meet their death. An albatross appears through the unrelenting bleakness, and the ice subsequently melts. The men s spirits are lifted, and the bird the only life in the desolate seascape is hailed as an omen of hope. So when the boy s uncle kills it, the crew call for him to be hanged. His life is spared, though, as the mists clear and, fickle in their superstition, they wonder if the albatross was an evil spirit they should be grateful to be rid of. But they change their minds again when they encounter unbearable heat, swapping one hell for another, and they force the boy s uncle to wear the rotting albatross around his neck. A ship is spied on the horizon, ghost-like and riddled with rot. Its only crew Death and Death s gruesome female companion gamble with dice to decide the sailors fate. The woman wins and the sailors die, while the boy and his uncle appear to have been spared. But the boy has yet to face the greatest horror of all. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chris Priestley worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for twenty years before becoming a writer. His books have been nominated for many awards including the Edgar Awards, the UKLA Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal. His award-winning and critically acclaimed Tales of Terror series is rooted in the tradition of M.R. James, Saki and Edgar Allan Poe, and is available in many languages.
Chris is also the author of several works of non-fiction for children, and he wrote one of the 2011 World Book Day books. He lives in Cambridge with his wife and son. http://www.chrispriestleybooks.com/ FOR DISCUSSION: The Dead Men Stood Together 1. Do you think the fact that the boy narrator is never named has any significance? If yes, what might that be? 2. How does the narrator s first meeting with his uncle, a mariner, (chapter three) foreshadow what happens when they encounter the Black Ship (chapter twenty two)? Why do you think the author did this? 3. The mariner describes himself as being not fit for decent people (page 36). To what extent does this seem true up to the point at which he says this? Consider chapter three in detail. 4. I like having my brain boggled, says the narrator (page 18). What do you think he means by this? To what extent does it hold true throughout the course of the novel? 5. Why do you think the narrator s mother lets her son go to sea? 6. How does the following view voiced by the uncle relate to his fate, and the fate of the narrator? Every man s death is a sacred thing. Surely it is life that is sacred, said my mother. My uncle shrugged. The same thing in the end (page 28). 7. I was born to be a mariner. It was who I was (the narrator, page 50). Some are made to wander and some are not (the mariner, page 30). Do you think the narrator was made to wander and born to be a mariner? And, if so, do you think this changes through the course of the narrator s life? 8. Consider the significance of the narrator killing the nightingale with his uncle s crossbow (chapter 6). a) What is the wider significance of his uncle s words, Tis only a bird, after all? b) I feel bad about it, I said. I wish I hadn t done it. Guilt? he said. It s a waste of energy, my friend (page 46).
What is the significance of this exchange between the narrator and his uncle? To what extent is the uncle s view that guilt is a waste of energy borne out through the course of the novel? What role does guilt play? c) I was grateful to my uncle at the time for saying nothing of the bird [ ] But I later suspected that the lie was for his own benefit, not mine (page 47). What evidence is there to support the narrator s view that his uncle lied about the nightingale to protect himself? Consider how the uncle has been portrayed up to this point. d) And what of that nightingale you shot? he said. What was your reason? I never meant to kill it! I shouted. Truly? he said, with a cruel twist of his lips. I stared angrily at him and yet he had touched a nerve somewhere (page 130). What is the significance of this exchange? Why do you think this touches the narrator s nerve? 9. I care nothing for the sea. The sea is just the road to where I want to be (page 99). Be of good heart, he said cheerfully. The sea is your mother now, boy (page 56). a) What do these excerpts reveal about the mariner s character? What does he mean by saying the sea is now the narrator s mother? b) Consider how the sea is represented throughout the novel. What does it symbolise? What imagery does the author use to describe it? 10. Consider the description of the pilot s boy flapping his arms like a bird and squawking (page 14). What is the significance of describing him like this? 11. Consider the role of different birds through the course of the novel: the nightingale (page 19; pages 45 7), the doves (page 185) and the albatross. What role does each play? 12. Why did the mariner kill the albatross? What does the albatross represent? Why do you think he kept its carcass? And why does he keep it around his neck after the crew have died? 13. What techniques does the author use to give insight into the characters emotional states? How does the author use the external world to deepen our understanding of the characters? 14. No one looks for meaning in signs and portents as keenly as a mariner (page 115). Such is the fickleness and foolishness of superstition (page 116) What function does superstition perform for the sailors? Does superstition
play a role in what happens to them? Why might the dice game be thought an appropriate means of deciding the fate of those aboard the ship? 15. Are the sailors blameless? Consider this in relation to the following excerpt: [The mariner] was a constant reminder of the loss of the albatross and of their own murderous rage (page 112). 16. The mariner s storytelling is a part of the penance he must perform throughout his life. Do you agree with this statement? Is there any other reason he tells his story? 17. Who suffers the worst fate? The sailors who die, the mariner, or the narrator? Why do you think the mariner survives? Do you think the mariner s punishment outweighs his crime? Do you think the narrator s fate is fair? 18. What right had he got to wear that peaceful look on his face when we lay all about him, dead before our time? (the narrator, page 176) Do you agree with the narrator? Why? Why not? 19. I turn to look at my uncle and find that I can hate him no longer (page 211). What do you think brings about this change in the narrator? What does the story say about forgiveness? FOR DISCUSSION: COMPARISONS WITH The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 1. Why do you think the poem, written in 1797 98, has endured so long and exerted such influence (e.g. it has given the English language the metaphor of having an albatross around the neck, the quotation water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink, and the phrase a sadder and a wiser man )? Why do you think the author of The Dead Men Stood Together was inspired to write a novel based on this poem? 2. The book s title is a line from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Why do you think the author chose this particular line as the title? Consider the novel s themes and style, and come up with three alternative titles, either different lines from Coleridge s poem, or your own original titles. 3. Examine how Chris Priestly has worked with the text of the original poem in his descriptions of the following episodes and characters: a) the intense cold the crew face early on in their voyage; b) the intense heat that comes after the albatross is killed; c) Death and the female Life-in-Death. 4. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is rooted in Romanticism. Research the following aspects of the Romantic tradition and find examples of each in
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: a) Supernaturalism; b) Liminal states and places; c) The power of the natural world; d) The metaphysical world. To what extent does The Dead Men Stood Together follow in this tradition? Do you think The Dead Men Stood Together feels more contemporary than Coleridge s poem? If so, why? 5. Why is the Wedding Guest in the poem a sadder and wiser man at the end of the poem? Do you think he was affected by the Mariner s moral ( He prayeth best, who loveth best/ All things both great and small;/ For the dear God who loveth us,/he made and loveth all. ), or by the story as a whole? How does this ending compare with the end of the novel? Does the novel end with a similar moral sentiment? 6. To what extent does Chris Priestley s creation of the boy narrator in his novel change the moral sentiment of the poem? 7. Compare and contrast the roles of a) the hermit and b) the pilot s son in the poem and novel. 8. Does the poem seem like a religious, or specifically Christian, poem to you? Is religion as prominent in the novel? BEYOND THE BOOK: CREATIVE ACTIVITIES Ship s logbook Write a series of entries for the ship s logbook from the captain s perspective. These entries should record the day s events, and how the captain feels about them. Focus on the following episodes: a) the day the albatross is first seen; b) the day the mariner kills the albatross; c) the day the rotting albatross is hung around the mariner s neck; d) And write an entry from the mariner s point of view following the encounter with Death, when all his shipmates have died. Create a comic strip Illustrate and write text (both speech and captions) for a comic strip of The Dead Men Stood Together or The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Before starting, break down the story into its key episodes and plan each frame within each episode.
Think about different illustrative and writing styles you could use. You might want to give the tale a different setting, e.g. make it contemporary, or try a different genre, e.g. the nightmarish descriptions of the slimy sea creatures and zombified sailors lend themselves to a great graphic novel horror makeover! Write a news report Write a newspaper report from the point of view of a journalist who witnesses the ship s return from sea. Describe what he sees, what he thinks of the survivor and his disturbing tale, and the reactions of the hermit, the pilot and his boy. Perform the original poem Work in small groups and perform The Rime of the Ancient Mariner aloud. Use sound effects and/or musical instruments to accompany your reading. Record it as a podcast. BEYOND THE BOOK: FURTHER READING Other poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (e.g. Kubla Khan, Christabel) Poems of Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley and Keats Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson Moby Dick by Herman Melville Dracula by Bram Stoker (chapter seven quotes The Rime of the Ancient Mariner) By the same author: Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror Tales of Terror from the Black Ship Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth Mister Creecher The Dead of Winter Through Dead Eyes Tom Marlowe series New World