Analyse af Julia Darlings novelle 'The Dress'

We pick our friends, but not our family. Family is the friends you are born to be with. Some might say forced to. Family... what is that exactly? Hopefully it’s a base zone. A place where you don’t have to think about how you appear, or how you should or shouldn’t behave. All of this sounds amazing doesn’t it? But it requires that everybody understands the importance in a so-called community. There are always rules. Some of them are written in the law. Some of them are written down on small notes, and hang on the fridge. Some of them are just unspoken. These are often the most important rules in a family, because it is the rules we least expect to be broken. A rule is broken, and a soul is let down, and feels betrayed. “The Dress” is a short story, written by Julia Darling in 2006. It deals with a relationship between siblings, and last but not least a family that clearly missing love. A family that breaks rules - doesn’t have rules.

“The Dress” starts in medias res. Rachel is sure that Flora has left their house wearing her new bought dress. We follow Rachel, who is clearly frustrated, storming around in the house yelling stuff like “Flora, Flora!”. Rachel had expected to wear the dress in the evening, on the restaurant, in the occasion of their mothers fortieth birthday. The dinner is really dominated by an upcoming quarrel. You really get the feeling that the mood is very tense, because the narrator is so descriptive in the writing. When Rachel gets to the point where she can’t hold back her anger anymore, she reveals the source of her frustrations to her sister. ““The dress” said Rachel, unable to contain herself. ”I want the dress back” Flora answers ”I don’t know what she’s talking about ” She immediately goes into a defensive position, probably because she already are aware of her mistake. The reaction from Flora, when her mom starts asking questions concerning the dress, is a normal sign of guilt. Flora dos not deny or confess, but she meanly just laughs, and tries to avoid the confrontation. Lots of mixed impressions by Rachel tells us how angry and frustrated she is on her sister Flora. Jealousy is a big part of it