Analyse af Peter Cartys novelle 'Yellow'

One of the key conclusions of Thomas Ziehe’s, German professor, analysis of postmodern society is increased individualism. With the rise of social media people are left to themselves. Facebook and Twitter are replacing the social arenas in real life while the waiting lists at the psychologists’ offices are continuously rising. In the short story “Yellow” Peter Carty sheds light on depression in postmodern society. In the following I will focus elements such as a characterisation of Jon, the setting, and the themes.

Jon is a cowardly alcoholic, who suffers from an agonizing depression caused by the characteristic structures of postmodern society. Jon is a second string-writer at a listings magazine. The editor, at the magazine Jon works on, forcefully ships off our depressed main character to Egypt on a free learn-to-scuba-dive trip. Jon is very dissatisfied with the situation; actually he is dissatisfied with a whole lot. He is not speaking with his girlfriend, he is pushing forty, he is overweight, etc. Additionally, Jon is quite the pessimist. “Take out the air supply that far down and fuck about with another one? He couldn’t do it, but he would have to” (p. 3, ll. 70-71). Furthermore, he suffers from a drinking problem. His hardships are embodied in his excessive urge to consume alcoholic beverages. Throughout the text he is depicted as an alcohol abuser, who attempts to finds comfort from the unbearable shallowness in society in spirits. Whenever he gets the chance to retrieve from the outside world in his hotel room and sedate himself with liquor, he does. He separates himself from his surroundings. He does, however, struggle with assembling the courage to make the ultimate escape, suicide. At various passages he thinks about the way he wants to make an end to his life, but his mind is not settled. “On the walk back the voice taunted him “yellow, yellow, yellow. Yellow as the desert sand” (p. 4, ll. 107-107). This battle between the sorrow that causes him to want to commit suicide and the fear of doing the act is key in the story. Our depressed main character’s rather nihilistic perception of life wins the battle. His nihilism that persuades him to kill himself is depicted in at least two symbols. He mentions the Buddhists and their ways. Buddhism believes that earthly life is an illusion with attachments that does not give lasting joy. The only way to escape the suffering life cycle of Samsara is to truly acknowledge this illusion, thereby you will not be reborn again, and the suffering of earthly life has come to an end. The other representation of his view on life is the deep and noiseless sea. He portrays it as an indefinite figure with an enormity of emptiness.