Analyse af Trevor Shikazes 'Going Up the Mountain'

In modern society, more and more people are diagnosed with stress. But is it because we are getting busier and busier, or is it just because we have become better at diagnosing mental illnesses? No matter the answer, it is important to take a break from a busy weekday full of errands. That is what Trevor Shikaze is trying to tell us, in his short story Going Up the Mountain, which is written in 2019. The narrator’s involvement of the reader makes the reader question the influence of modern social media, and on the time, we spent studying others’ lives and opinion.

Going Up the Mountain starts in medias res, with a description of a fictional town where the short story takes place. It is an ordinary town, however in the middle of the town sits a mountain, which everyone seems to talk about. The story takes place in a near future setting, where everyone has their own show. Everyone is able to watch each other’s show, and therefore follow each other’s lives and life choices.

The main character we follow in the short story is a female, but the main character’s name is never mentioned. Since it is mentioned in the text that she has children who go to school, our main character is probably in the 40’s. Other than the main character, we hear about a few subordinate characters. We hear that she lives with her husband and children, we hear about her sister and a coworker, called Cynthia, who works in the HR-department at the main characters job. Other than having an ordinary job, the main character drives her children to school, she goes shopping for groceries and she watches television with her husband in the evening after a long day. Just like so many other families.