![]() ‘Returning to work after maternity leave’ Whichever is unclear and left up to interpretation. The repetition of ‘delete, delete, delete’ gives us the sense that she’s frustratingly attempting to ‘delete’ her self-acknowledged, perhaps over-the-top anxiety surrounding Daniel, or trying to delete herself out of her situation. The simile ‘like a bird pecking’ automates Liz’s actions in the workplace, as though she is doing it by switching to a ‘mechanical form’ of herself. We can feel Liz’s exasperation at this stage.This sarcastic internal monologue reflects Liz’s current state of mind, where she’s experiencing a disconnect from her coworkers, and ’the land of the living’.“Yeah, yeah, yeah, they’re right, of course they are.” Therefore, there’s this sense that the people’s lives in the office remain unchanged, highlighting again Liz’s alienation. Her entire world is now Daniel, whereas everything in the office is as it used to be. The repetition of ’same’ actually heightens how much has actually changed for Liz.“Same computer, same shiny worn spot on the space bar…" This is in contrast to later in the story when she is reunited with Daniel and is comforted by ‘inhaling the scent of him again’. There’s a sense of alienation, of nausea that shows readers like us that Liz doesn’t feel like she belongs. Even her sense of smell betrays her being away from Daniel.“The smell of the place, that’s what throws her, the scent of it all, adult perfumes, air breathed out by computers and printers and photocopiers.” This foreshadows her return to her pre-baby life - that things will not be the same. Her everyday objects are splashed with Daniel’s belongings - the crayon, the gluestick, and demonstrate how intertwined her life is now with her child.“She digs in her bag for her lipstick, her fingers searching for the small cylinder, and pulls out a crayon, then a battery, then a tampon, then a gluestick.” These "fighter” phrases reveal Liz’s anxious mindset, as she imagines a world where her son is almost in the wilderness, every man for himself, as though it’s the survival of the fittest - and which Liz so fearfully express, “not that there’s going to be anybody with enough time to notice that Daniel needs help”, is not an environment where Daniel belongs. ![]() “Guerilla warfare”, “Jungle gym”, "seasoned commanders” Instead of seeing this as an opportunity for Daniel to befriend others and have a great time, she describes them as ‘rampaging strangers’, giving us a sense that Daniel is subject to an unfamiliar environment that is wild, frenzied, rioting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |