Analyse af Abigail Ulmans novelle 'Shiva'

Motherhood can be hard as hell. In the ideal world, a mother is her child’s best friend, ally, confidant, and her love for her child is unconditional. What if this relationship was the opposite and actually was confusing, hurtful and marked by conflict of interests? Exactly this relation thematises in the short story: Frida Boyelski’s Shiva by Abigail Ulman, which revolves around a mother, who must find a way to manage, that soon her child will go through a serious change.

As for the short story’s structure, the beginning starts with a backstory and an introduction to the circumstances behind the conflict. By it, the reader becomes aware of the fact that the protagonist, Frida, always would like to have a daughter likewise that her daughter, Ruthie, tells the protagonist as a young woman that she is a man (ll. 1-2). This paragraph briefly makes a list of the factors, which frames the conflict. Afterward, the characters, Ruthie and Frida and the setting becomes further established in the exposition where Ruthie explains to her mom that she is transgender. Frida proves to be completely unsympathetic towards her daughter and confused about terms related to gender by that time as she refuses to read the book that Ruthie gives her about transsexualism (ll. 5-6) and asks if Ruthie’s boyfriend also does the trans thing (l. 16). Furthermore, Frida is uneasy about the fact that Ruthie leaves to stay at Leah’s house because she has a feeling, which tells her that Ruthie perhaps not will be the same person when she returns to Frida (ll. 22-23). This leads to a tension point likewise it appears as a foreshadowing element as it foreshadows that Ruthie returns to Frida as Rafael at the end of the short story. In the rising action Frida chooses to call in sick at her working place (ll. 37-38) and announces in the Bereavements section that she will sit shiva for her daughter the following week whereto she welcomes visitors (ll. 42-47). Afterward, the short story is structured into different sections where Frida on daily basis receive a new visitor, who brings mainly explanations for whose fault it is that Ruthie is transgender. For instance, when Danielle visits Frida on the third day, she blames herself that Ruthie is transgender because she bullies Ruthie into play the “father role” in “Mothers and fathers” as kids (ll. 108-111). On the final day of Frida’s shiva, the boy, Rafael, who is earlier known as Ruthie, comes to visit Frida. Frida learns by the opening discussion the fact that her child is now a boy means, Rafael will still call her mom and soon will start taking testosterone (ll. 173-184). This part proves to be the turning point of the short story as the interest and emotions peaks because is a paramount moment for the relationship between mother and child in the short story. The following lines are an approximate repetition of the beginning lines. The only difference is the very last part of the paragraph, which at the end of the short story says: “that daughter turned out to be a son.” (l. 189). This does not only mean that you can argue for the possibility that the short story is a circular structure but also that Frida is still disappointed. Furthermore, she finds it difficult to accept that she now has a son instead of a daughter as she always has dreamed of. However, it appears in the resolution that Frida will try to accept the given situation as she suggests that the two of them can make dinner together and the fact that Frida accepts Rafael’s help in order to get to her feet (ll. 190-196). Furthermore, Frida finally realizes that she must begin to understand and know her child in spite of her disappointment in order to maintain her role as a mother. Rafael does also want to maintain the parent-child relationship between the two as he as above-mentioned still would like to call Frida, mom, and involve her in the transformation progress as Frida requests (ll. 185-187). This is also one of the elements in the short story which shows that Frida and her child have a positive relationship. Despite that, it proves to be in contrast to Ruthie’s upbringing where the relationships between mother and daughter seem to be marked by bad communication. In this connection, Ruthie’s upbringing shows clear signs of the fact that Frida ignores those of Ruthie’s wishes, which is in conflict with the stereotypically, girly wishes. For instance, does Frida give Ruthie a pink bike with pink streamers instead of the BMX racer as Ruthie wishes for, which leaves the daughter in tears (ll. 59-62). However, you can argue for the possibility that Frida only acts from her best intentions when it comes to her daughter as it says in a backstory: “(…) and give that daughter the opportunities she herself never had.” (l. 36). The quote indicates that all the feminine gifts that Frida gives Ruthie throughout her upbringing are gifts Frida herself wishes for as a girl and therefore never intends to hurt Ruthie but assumes will make any girl happy. Although there seems to be a clash of interest between Ruthie and Frida in Ruthie’s upbringing, it is suggested that the two of them have a close and relationship. For instance, this clearly appears when Cousin Shulie points out her jealousy of Frida and Ruthie. She envies how close they are and the fact that Ruthie respects Frida as a girl, which is in contrast to the Cousin and her daughter’s relationship (ll. 98-99).