The short-story “Low Visibility” was written by Margaret Murphy in 2008. The main character of the story is Laura, who is married to a man named John. Laura and John’s marriage is not going well due to the fact that John is a violent and abusive man and Laura feels invisible. Laura does not have the bravery to put her foot down, and stop John from hurting her.
The story is told by a third-person narrator. We get told that Laura was not always like this. Once she was a cheerful woman, who could light up a room with laughter, but because of John she no longer possesses the ability. John only wanted Laura because of her spirit and exuberance and because he thought Laura’s good humour could tear down his walls of defences, but instead he kept Laura as a hostage and ruined her. “… he held her so tight, his hostage and his shields, squeezing the joy out of her until there was none left” pp. 8 line 23-24.
John believes “…that happiness was something that could be absorbed, as a plant takes in water by osmosis”. It could be the reason why he holds Laura’s thigh so tight, because he thinks he can absorb the happiness Laura once had by squeezing it out of her. “Animals, John mutters, feasting on her pain” pp. 8 line 60. John blames Laura for his misery, because the purpose of their marriage was that John could absorb her joy.
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