Analyse af 'School Run' af Kate Marsh

According to a dictionary, a nerd is someone, who is very captivated by a certain subject. So technically the word nerd isn’t attached to a specific type of person or hobby. But being considered a nerd is often tantamount to people thinking you have no fun or no friends. Some people think of a nerd in a very stereotypical way. To them a stereotypical nerd is someone who is a top student with good grades and who doesn’t care about his or her looks. You would think that a modern community didn’t have problems with equality or prejudice. But the reality is that a lot of people are still a victim of prejudice. The short story “School Run” by Kate Marsh is published in 2013 in an anthology of short stories, and tells the story of how prejudice has often been a problem for the narrator’s husband.

Through 1st person narrator the reader relives the life of the narrator and her husband Magnus. An unusual thing about this short story is the fact that the whole story is told in flashback, but mostly in direct speech. The narrator isn’t the main character which is very unusual for a 1st person narrator. Instead the main character is Magnus.Magnus is a so-called nerd, who doesn’t care much about the prejudices of the narrator’s friends and family. Magnus has got a huge passion for science and includes it wherever he can, such as in letters or in everyday conversations. In opposition to his smart head when it comes to science, ordinary things, like a soccer match, seems to be of difficulty to him. Already in the first paragraph the narrator’s mother describes Magnus as somewhat unusual: “How unusual that a schoolboy in this day and age would appreciate them. But then Magnus is a very unusual boy,” (line 9-11). Magnus often turns to the narrator when he is in doubt of how ordinary people act. As an example he checks with his wife that she is not expecting him to take their children around Stamford Bridge in a baby sling and pushchair while wearing their Chelsea outfits. The reason for this could be because he simply doesn’t know how to take care of the children, because childcare is a task that is normally taking care of by his wife. As time progresses the world of science becomes more interesting to the world’s population and the narrator describes how her husband occasionally appears on television-panel shows, which indicates that science might even be considered cool instead of dull. This development in the world leads to Magnus being busier than he has previously been and the narrator explains how Magnus “in a post-breakfast panic, has been known to lace his shoelaces with garden twine, twist-ties from freezer bags or birthday ribbon” (line 95-94). It is also explained how Magnus answers the questions of a television-panel show in the same way as he answers his sons’ questions about science. Because Magnus answers difficult questions in the same way no matter the situation, he manages to stay true to himself, but at the same time it’s another indicator, that it is difficult for Magnus to deal with his children and talk to them on a level they understand. The relationship between Magnus and his wife is not necessarily the one with most shared hobbies, but it is driven by an unconditional love, and respect for one another which is shown in the last paragraph where the narrator doesn’t wake up Magnus to ask him a question for her friend. This unconditional love is also shown in the early stages of their relationship, when it is told how the narrator’s friends and family question whether Magnus is the right guy for her, but the narrator hasn’t even considered the superficial questions about Magnus, that her friends care so deeply about. The title “School Run” is symbolic in the way that the narrator’s mom thinks that if another guy had carpooled to school with her daughter instead of Magnus, she would be married to him and not Magnus. The narrator doesn’t agree with this view, and sees no reason as to why she shouldn’t have ended up with Magnus.