“Serrusalmus” by Lesley Glaister Essay Example
“Serrusalmus” by Lesley Glaister Essay Example

“Serrusalmus” by Lesley Glaister Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
Topics:
View Entire Sample
Text preview

Serrusalmus is a short narrative written by Lesley Glaister. It was published in Contexts in 1992. The subjects in the narrative are fear. retaliation and love. Through the whole narrative Marjorie fears the universe. other people and particularly Mick. The fright controls her life and makes her stay inside her flat most of the clip. At the terminal of the narrative Marjorie does no longer fear Mick and that gives her an chance to take retaliation on him with aid from her fish. After taking retaliation on Mick she feels satisfied. The individual who caused farther fright to her life is now eliminated. She is now able to go on making what she loves the most – take attention of her darling fish!

The rubric ”Serrusalmus” relates to Marjorie’s favorite pet. Russ. who is a marauder. The ground w

...

hy Russ is so of import to Marjorie is because he makes her able to take retaliation on Mick. Russ makes Marjorie feel stronger even though she fears Mick. The rubric creates an outlook of that a Serrusalmus will be of great importance to the narrative and its function will do the narrative bend out the manner it does.

It is a 3rd individual storyteller who – when it comes to Marjorie – is all-knowing through the whole narrative. This is shown when the storyteller tells us about Marjorie’s yesteryear. her experiences. her feelings and her sentiments. When it comes to Mick the storyteller is non-omniscient because nil but his actions and looks is described. The storyteller does non notice the characters and the events so he is besides impersonal. The characters are non described straight by the writer

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

but indirectly by how they act. Every clip Marjorie and Mick talk there is used direct address. There is besides used description when Marjorie’s flat and her armored combat vehicles and fish are brought up. and when Mick shows up – first clip when Marjorie lets him in because of his fishy expression and 2nd clip when she sees that he has been in a battle.

The text could take topographic point at any clip in the past few old ages. It takes topographic point in Marjorie’s flat on the 19th floor. One wall of her the life room is made of armored combat vehicles. In these armored combat vehicles she keeps her many species of fish. The opposite wall of her life room is besides glass. The ground why she lives like this could be that she one time liked to watch emmets. who she thought was merely similar people. Through the old ages Marjorie has changed her head and she now believes that the people are merely like emmets. Therefore she might wish to see “ants” down below when she looks out of her window – her ain small universe.

The topographic point of action remains the same trough the whole narrative. Marjorie does non work because she spends about all of her clip in her flat. which is likely paid by the Social Service. It is expensive to maintain that many armored combat vehicles and fish so she must pass about all the money given to her by the council to take attention of her fish alternatively of taking attention of herself. The Social Service besides gave her personal information to a school that

included her in a Community Scheme because of her solitariness.

Marjorie is a fish-loving adult female who has turned 40. She is the girl of a adult female who had a fright of the head. As a kid she liked to watch emmets and she is still sort of making it when she looks out of her window and sees all those bantam. busy people down below. Even though she likes emmets she likes fish even more because of their anti-social behavior. She is anti-social and stray herself excessively and she is cognizant of that she suffers from agoraphobia. She fears other people with the exclusion of Ron who works in Fish’n Feathers and likely has the same involvement in fish as Marjorie. It soothes Marjorie to watch her fish and she finds them wholly different from the busy and societal people – and emmets. She wishes she could be merely as contained and safe as her fish are. likely so she would non hold to be so frightened all the clip. She does non kip good which is besides caused by her fright. “In her dreams on good darks. kiping darks. she is silver slipperiness and silent. gliding from one glass wall to the other. enclosed and yet wholly free” .

Even though Marjorie is non a fish who lives in a armored combat vehicle. she lives in her ain glass-walled universe and she acts merely as anti-social and non-busy as her fish. Before Mick came into her life her flat was besides reasonably safe. Marjorie was non happy before she met Mick but she is even less happy after run intoing him. She fears Mick

more than she fears other people. She has tried to acquire rid of him by naming the school but he kept coming back for nutrient and money. She let him because she feared him. “He could hold killed her so. She wouldn’t have made a mutter. ” Her fish mean everything to her and if merely she had dared to. she would hold sacrificed her ain life to salvage the life of the fish Mick threw out her window. When one twenty-four hours Mick turns up all bruised she sees her opportunity to take retaliation on him.

She is smart and Acts of the Apostless like if everything is normal. Her desire for retaliation makes her non care about if she kills Mick which is why she drops several of her tablets for agoraphobia into his drink. She did non hold to allow Russ eat Mick’s manus excessively but she wanted to penalize him for the manner he has treated her. Russ makes her feel strong plenty to manage Mick and she holds him where he is until Russ has finished. After this episode Marjorie cleans up the muss and makes tea. “She bears no score now. No demand. The boot is on the other pes. ” She feels strong and she is no longer afraid of Mick. Her manner to manage the fact that she has merely subjected Mick to torment shows that something else but agoraphobia must be incorrect with her.

Mick is a trouble maker who is involved with the system. He is supposed to do life a small spot nicer for Marjorie but alternatively of making so he takes money and nutrient from

her. he threats her. cries at her and he swears at her. He uses his strength to acquire whatever he wants from Marjorie well-knowing that she can non make anything to halt him. He has ne'er harmed her physically but he has made her fright him. He does non demo any emotions and he cold-hearted killed one of her fish. All he cares about is money and being in charge. When he has thrown Marjorie’s fish out of the window he laughs at her merely to penalize her even more. Even though he does non demo any emotion Marjorie believes that she glimpses failing and fright in his face merely for a 2nd when he sees how sad the decease of a fish makes her. Mick does non look to blend with the right sort of people which could besides be the ground why he has ended up in a battle. He is besides begrimed and oily and he makes Marjorie sword lily that she did non hold a kid herself. He might believe that he is invulnerable and hence he drinks the drink Marjorie made for him with no uncertainty.

At the terminal of the narrative Marjorie has developed – she does no longer fear Mick. The stoping of the narrative makes us believe that Marjorie’s head is twisted because of the manner she takes retaliation on Mick and because of the manner she acts like nil has of all time happened after tormenting him. But the stoping does besides state us that even weak and vulnerable individuals can happen interior strength to stand up for themselves. We do non cognize whether Mick is truly

dead or if he is still alive at the terminal of the narrative. If he is still alive he will likely decease of blood deficit Oklahoman or subsequently and in all chances Marjorie is non traveling to name for aid. because every bit shortly as she gets rid of Mick she will be able to go on her life in her ain glass-walled universe.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New