Analyse af 'Open Or Wrapped' af Lynne Rees

Write a summaryThe short story Open Or Wrapped is written by Lynne Rees and appeared on East of the Web in 2003. The story is about the young girl Francine, who works at a fish and chips shop for a couple of months in the summer, but experiences insulting sexual comments and violations from some of the customers. All the incidents affect her greatly, and neither the shop owner Brian nor her mother seems to experience it as a problem. Meanwhile a kid comes nearly every day for two weeks during her work at the shop, but instead of approaching her, he stands at a but stop and observe her. In the end of the story, when she has clashed with the owner Brian because of the previous incidents, the kid and his friend play around in front of the shop. The kid’s friend tells her that the kid loves her and she softens up.

Characterise FrancineFrancine is the main character in the story. She is annoyed about the comments from the customers, and she is aware of which effect alcohol has on the men (p. 9 l. 14-16): “But then there are the younger ones who assume ten pints of real ale add to their charm and wit and Francine’s heard every variation she can think of on sausages.” At first she is resolute and steadfast, because she can see an end of it (p. 9 l. 20): “Just three more weeks and then she can tell them all to piss off.” She is determined not to let these overtures get to her. Although these experiences are not new to Francine, and she has never understood why it was necessary (p. 9 l. 20-22): “She’s surprised how much it’s getting to her, after all she’s had her fair share of unwanted attention ever since she was 12 and needed a 32B bra…” She also thinks about in the story that the unwanted attention does not only come from boys, but also grown up men (p. 9 l. 23-24): “If boys weren’t trying to flick her nipples, then uncles with boozy breath were grabbing hold of her at Christmas and pretending to tickle her.” Francine has experienced a childhood and teenage-life that have been marked by, that boys and men have taken liberties with her and her body. After the unpleasant experience the previous night, Francine is unhappy, because Brian did not step in (p. 10 l. 50-52): “She wished he’d been more helpful last night. He hadn’t even said anything when they’d closed up, not even Don’t pay any attention to them, love or It’s just the beer talking. Nothing.” And after her clash with Brian, when she sees the scruffy kid, she mutters (p. 11 l. 98): “Oh you fuck off too” to herself, because she is fed up with all the recent unpleasantness and is unaware of his intentions. In the end of the story, after Francine realizes that she has been wrong about the kid, she becomes happy again, because she experiences, how all male-figures does not have inappropriate intentions (p. 12 l. 127-128): “Her eyes are stinging again but she feels a smile break past her lips, and spread over her face.” So Francine’s attitude towards the male-gender changes through the story, because she experiences this eye opening moment, where she misjudges the kid.