The Museum Gardens

Page 1

30/9/16

The Museum Gardens

Within Kate Atkinson’s novel Behind the Scenes of the Museum

the Museum Gardens is not a space that appears often in detail. We first hear

of the space on page24 with a brief description from Ruby who is not even born

at this point. ‘All the trees in the Museum Gardens are in new leaf and high

above Bunty’s head.’ However, this lack of detail is true to Bunty’s character

demonstrating a lack of appreciation to the beautiful surroundings that she is

in. From my experience, the garden was beautifully tranquil without a single

shred of litter. There is a hint of Bunty potentially having autism, as

mentioned by Ruby when they return to the park at the end of the book, ‘Bunty’s

autistic parenting.’ Some forms of autism have these effects where the person

doesn’t necessarily understand why they have to do something but just do it

because it is a routine, it would also explain a lot of Bunty’s lack of

affection towards her daughters. The significance of the Museum Gardens is that

it particularly begins the relationship of Ruby and Bunty, as we are guided

around the area by Ruby and watch Gillian as she learns to ride a bike. And the

end of their relationship at the end of the book when Bunty has been diagnosed

with dementia and they are just sat peacefully taking in the surroundings,

creating a much more realistic image in contrast to our visit we found many

similarities.