Analyse af Richard Allens novelle 'Skinhead'

It is common knowledge that when young people enter adolescence they tend to have a certain need for individuality and independence. Some start despising their parents or the social norms that surround them. This desire for rebellion varies in degree, of course. Some teenagers seek more drastic, rebellious, measures in order to feel respect or independence from their parents.

“Skinhead” is a story about a young man, Joe Hawkins, who is utterly unpleased with his ordinary existence in a working class neighbourhood, Plaistow.

One of the particularly annoying things about Plaistow is some of the people living there: “The neighbours were old, foul-mouthed and unintelligent (…) God, how he hated this street! Next door, he could see that bitch Grace peeping from behind”.

Joe despises Plaistow: “Plaistow and its dirt were not for Joe. One day, he would move away and never return”. Hawkins has seven mates, with whom he commits antisocial acts. Hawkins and his fellow gang members are often looking for fights: “Any aggro (aggression) today?” Hawkins’ mother, Thelma, is often abusive towards him: “Thelma’s heavy hand swung, catching the lad across his cheek”. The major themes in this story are among others the implications that follow with a negative social inheritance, maladjustment, parental negligence and the question of why some people early on in their life gets maladjusted.