Analysis of Graham Swift's short story 'Fusilli'

An analytical essay on Graham Swift’s short story “Fusilli”

We live in a world where thousands of soldiers fight for freedom and democracy. At least that’s the intension. Nothing about war is honourable or good. Death, meaninglessness, and suffering usually characterise war. Nevertheless, thousands of young men and women decide to go to the Middle East to fight. The general opinion is that fighting is the brave and right thing to do. However, when the soldiers fall in war the opinion changes, and the parents have to bury their own child. This is what the main character experiences in the short story “Fusilli” by the author Graham Swift. The nameless protagonist’s last moment of contact with his beloved soldier son was when standing in the pasta isle in the local supermarket. Later, the reader is told that the son had died shortly after the phone call. Through the use of symbols and narrative technique, the author illustrates the chaos the protagonist feels after losing his child. Graham Swift uses various literary techniques to create a close bond between the reader and main character.

Graham Swift uses a limited third person narrator, which means that we have access to some information but not all. The information we are given is usually something the other characters don’t have, but we don’t have access to the information the other characters may know. In the text, the reader is not aware of the reason of the main character’s feelings and actions. For example, on page 1 line 12 where we have access to his thoughts: “How he wished it was still then.” this confuses the reader and creates a feeling of suspense and drama. Since a lot of information is withheld the reader’s curiosity is piqued, and to avoid getting misled or manipulated, the reader is on “truth control” throughout the whole story. However, the narrative technique also illustrates the fact that this could happen to anyone. This generalisation is created since the protagonist’s actions and feelings are not bound up on the death of his son. The actions and feelings are easier to relate to when the cause is hidden from the reader, because the reader has space to interpret one’s own problems and sorrows instead of thinking that the father who lost his son has a monopoly to those feelings.