Clara's day: analyse af Penelope Livelys novelle

Clara’s day by Penelope Lively is a story about a girl called Clara. She is fifteen years old. She lives with her mother who has a part time job as a dentist’s receptionist. The mother has a boyfriend called Stan who is an actor.

The story takes place in a school in London. One morning she suddenly takes off all of her clothes and walks through the school. According to The Head, Clara is doing fine in school. Her mocks went well. The Head also says, that there are a few people whom she would not be surprised if they did something like that, but that it is really surprising that Clara did it.

The Head writes a note to Clara’s mother, and Clara goes on with her day. A couple of days later Clara wakes up and sees outside that the note from The Head has arrived. Her mother reads it and bursts out in laughter. Stan hears the story and does the same as his girlfriend.

That reaction is very untypical by a parent and describes the relationship between the adults and Clara. It describes the parents kind of like they do not really care, or like they are trying to be “young” or “modern” parents and trying to be more friends than parents. That kind of parenting could lead to an action like Clara’s. It could be a call for attention or “real parenting”. It also seems like The Head is a kind of extra parent for Clara in the way she knows Clara. The Head speaks to Clara like she trusts her and like she knows Clara trusts her.