Choices
Marcus lives with his mother, Fiona. His parents are divorced.
“Did you always know I was going to be a vegetarian?”
She laughed. “Of course I did. I didn’t decide on the spur of the moment 1 because we’d run out2
of sausages.”
“And do you think that’s fair?”
“How do you mean?”
“Shouldn’t I have been allowed to make up my own mind?”
“You can when you’re older.”
“Why aren’t I old enough now?”
“Because you don’t do your own cooking. I don’t want to cook meat, so you have to eat what I
eat.”
“But you don’t let me go to McDonald’s either.”
“Is this premature teenage rebellion? I can’t stop you from going to McDonald’s. I’d just be
disappointed if you did.”
Disappointed. Disappointment. That was how she did it. This was how she did a lot of things.
[…] She’d done him again. She always told him he could do what he wanted, and then argued with
him until what he wanted was that she wanted anyway. I was beginning to make him angry.
“That’s not fair.”
She laughed. “That’s what life is, Marcus. You have to work out3 what you believe in, and then
you have to stick to4 it. It’s hard, but it’s not unfair.”
There was something wrong with this, but he didn’t know what. All he knew was that not
everyone thought like this. When they talked in class about things like smoking, everyone agreed it
was bad, but then loads of kids smoked; when they talked about violent films, everyone said they
disapproved of them, but they still watched them. They thought one thing and did another. In
Marcus’s house it was different. They decided what was bad and then they never touched it or did it
again. He could see that made sense: he thought stealing was wrong and killing was wrong, and he
didn’t steal things or kill people.
It was why he wore clothes that other kids laughed at – because they’d had this talk about
fashion, and they’d agreed that fashion was stupid – and why he listened to music that was oldfashioned, or that no one else had ever heard of – because they’d had this talk about pop music, and
they’d agreed it was just a way for record companies to make a lot of money. It was why he wasn’t
allowed to play violent computer games; or eat hamburgers, or do this or that or the other.
“Why don’t you just tell me what to do? Why do we always have to talk about it?”
“Because I want to teach you to think by yourself.”
Nick HORNBY, About a Boy (1998)
Nick Hornby was born in 1957 in the U.K. Three of his books have already been made into films: Fever
Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy (with Hugh Grant]. He has edited a collection of short stories Speaking
with the Angel, the royalties from which are donated to a charity for autistic children.
1
.
.
3
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4
.
2
on the spur of the moment: sur un coup de tête
run out of: être à court de
work out: trouver
stick to sth: se tenir à qqch
Questions
1. What does the discussion about food reveal about the relationship between Marcus and his
mother?
2. Disappointed. Disappointment. (l. 15). How does Marcus react to these words? Why?
3. How is behaviour determined in Marcus’s house? Give examples.
4. Why does Fiona want to talk about everything?
Translation
5. Translate the passage from “Did you always know… (l. 2) to …when you’re older.” (l. 8).
“Did you always know I was going to be a vegetarian?”
She laughed. “Of course I did. I didn’t decide on the spur of the moment because we’d run
out of sausages.”
“And do you think that’s fair?”
“How do you mean?”
“Shouldn’t I have been allowed to make up my own mind?”
“You can when you’re older.”
Writing
6. Do you think Marcus’s mother is too strict about principles? How would you react if you
were in Marcus’s situation? (100-150 words)
Synopsis
Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he’s discovered a brilliant new way of meeting
women – through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bit nerdish: he’s got the kind of
mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other
out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.