Analyse af 'Number 40' af Sarah Butler

The short story “Number 40” written by Sarah Butler and its about Melissa. Melissa is a working woman, who is in relationship with Simon. We get to know early in the story that she doesn’t like to forget things – but she forgot her phone before she went to work. This makes her think about Simon and they’re disagreements. They live together, and though they disagree, its clear that Melissa thinks fondly of Simon. This is shown when she forgets her own wishes to satisfy Simon. She even tries to convince herself that his decision might lead to happyness for her. “Maybe, she thought, the table wasn’t that bad after all.” This could not be seen only as a positive thing, but this could also be a sign of codependence, which is a bad thing. It also seems like her relationship with Simon is what keeps her going. Most of the thoughts that we get to know from the narrator are about her and Simon, and her feelings for him.SymbolismColors are used very much in this story. Its used like a symbol in the story. We see it the way they use the color ‘grey’ in many occasions. “She looked instead out of the window at the pavement, which, when she narrowed her eyes enough to blur her vision, turned into a continuous grey line” In this situation it is rather abstract compared to this example. “And then she looked at the lock, and the door it was in, and realized that this door was pale grey” In this example its very formal. The color ‘grey’ often represents hopelessness, which makes sense in the context of the story. The use of colors also sets the mood of the scene. When we talk about the current day that Melissa exists in, words like ‘pale’, ‘grey’ and ‘dark’ are used often. When we talk about Santorini on the other hand, words like ‘bright white’, ‘pink flower and ‘tanned’ are used. These contrasts explain the thoughts that Melissa associate with the different places.The phone can also symbolize the issues with communication that we saw with her and Simon. She didn’t like the table, and she choose not to confront him with it. She instead chooses to live with it, and she hopes that the table is going to grow on her. She also doesn’t talk about the jealousy she has about him and the girl Emma/Emily. Point of view