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461051
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Dato:
Engelsk B
30-05-2016
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Something most modern children dread is, without a doubt, their parents getting divorced. This is
exactly what has happened to Alex, the protagonist of Jennifer Allott’s short story ”Mid-air” (2014).
Therefore, the story mainly deals with his reaction to the event and the emotions resulting from it,
the complexity of which he can’t himself comprehend.
The story is written in third person limited, as the reader follows the young boy Alex who is on an
excursion with his father and stepmother. His thoughts and feelings are the only ones known to the
reader, meaning the reader is left to infer the other characters’ emotions and motives based on
their actions and reactions, all of which are described from Alex’s perspective. It is problematic that
the story is seen from Alex’s point of view, because he is so young that there are certain issues he
fails to pick up on throughout the story. For instance, he seems oblivious to the fact that his father
and his new girlfriend, Paula, are doing their best to please both children. Therefore, the narrator
isn’t completely reliable. The structure of the story can also be ascribed to the young narrator.
Instead of being told chronologically, the story jumps from one setting to another as Alex is
reminded of certain events. Unsystematic thinking is typical for children, who often follow their
every whim.
The story is divided into four parts, three of which, take place the same day. The story starts in
medias res, as Alex all of the sudden gets motion sick while sitting in his father’s car, followed by a
brief flashback from the beginning of the day. Afterwards, Alex thinks of a conversation he had with
Ben, a classmate, who recently started at Alex’s school which leads him to think of the time his
mother told him that his father was leaving: “”It’ll be all right Alex” said mum. But it wasn’t” (l.5859). Finally he thinks about the rest of the events of the day, starting with the part before he
becomes ill in the car and ending immediately after. This part of the story is disrupted by the fourth
section that portrays the day Paula was introduced to both children.
It’s clear that the father and Paula are making an effort to make the day pleasant for all parties
involved. However, they don’t succeed and Alex thinks of the day as “A bad day” (l.159) in the end
and in the beginning of the story he thinks: “it had not been a good day” (l.17). This is partially due
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30-05-2016
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to a series of unfortunate events, including when Alex becomes carsick and Rosie wets herself and
later gets lost, but also the fact that both children are having a hard time accepting that they have
a stepmother. An example is the scene where Paula greets the children and kisses Rosie on the
cheek whereupon “Rosie picked up the bottom of her pinafore and wiped her face” (l.127-218) and
later when Alex thinks “If he looked at the fly he didn’t have to look at dad holding Paula’s
hand”(l.74-75). Alex can’t help but resent his father for leaving his mother and, as he is a child, he
is unable to understand the father’s motives for leaving: “Alex wondered what it was about mum
that dad didn’t like anymore” (l.109). He knows that he should be nice to Paula, but feels bad for his
mother at the same time. When he talks to Paula and inadvertently praises her t-shirt he thinks
immediately of his mother.
Even though Alex repeatedly states that he tries to be nice, there are certain parts of the story where
he appears malicious and cruel. For instance, when he tells his father that Rosie has been wetting
herself since he left, implicit blaming him for Rosie’s difficulties and then, with a certain satisfaction,
thinks that there isn’t anything his father could do about it. Later, when Alex intentionally drowns
an insect in one of the rock pools by the beach, he appears even crueler. It’s a bit unsettling that he
would drown an insect on purpose, but his cruelty is made up for in the following paragraph when
he has “a funny feeling” (l.142) in his stomach after his sister goes missing. Perhaps his actions just
reflect his young age and thoughtlessness. His aversion to Paula is instinctive and not personal. It
could derive from a protective instinct towards his mother. In summary, even though Alex thinks of
himself as a nice person, he doesn’t always behave like one. However, it might just be because he
is young and doesn’t realize what he is doing. That Alex is good by nature is substantiated by the
fact that he is always nice to his sister and in the end of the story when he thinks it’s hard to always
be nice to people. “But that didn’t mean you should stop trying.” (l.160-161)
The title of the short story, “Mid-air”, is a reference to a story told twice in the short story itself –
once by Ben and once by Alex. It’s the story of a bus driver who drove a bus across Tower Bridge
when it was open. What fascinates Alex the most are the passengers’ thoughts the moment, the
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Skolenavn:
461051
SCT. KNUDS GYMNASIUM
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Dato:
Engelsk B
30-05-2016
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bus was in mid-air. Alex realizes that he can relate to the passengers’ feeling of fright and
uncertainty because that is how he feels about his father leaving all of the sudden, turning his world
upside down, as if someone all of the sudden pulled the rug from under his feet, forcing him to view
everything in a new light. Everything that was certain becomes uncertain, which he, understandably,
has trouble dealing with. Perhaps he also feels like he has to choose between his mother and his
father and Paula, the same way the bus driver had to choose whether to stop or accelerate.
Therefore, the apparent themes of the text could be growing up and making decisions, change and
difficulties with adjusting.
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