'You Are Here', analyse af Dana Miltins' novelle

Do you sometimes feel like you are not where you want to be in life? That you need some sort of guidance as to where to go next, or what to do at a certain time in your life, where you are feeling stuck? This feeling is not unusual if you ask most people. Life is not easy and every aspect of it has its difficulties. One of the hardest parts of life is figuring out what you want to do with it, and more importantly, whom you want to spend it with. Some find love at an early age, start a family and go on to live a normal, happy life, while for others it may be harder to find love, and in general to figure out what to do in life. This uncertainty in life can cause a lot of trouble and worry, and it can make it hard to imagine a bright future. Sometimes it can be easier for some to figure out life on their own, while some rely on others for guidance. This issue of life’s uncertainty can be seen portrayed in the short story “You Are Here” by Dana Miltins, 2018.

The story revolves about two characters, referred to as “he” and “she”. We never get information about what their real names are. The story takes place in Australia, in a dessert. At the beginning of the story, he and she do not live together. He is staying in a caravan alone, which we get told is because of a job, but we get kind of get the impression that it might be because he needs time away from her. The two of them have an apartment together, in which she is staying alone while he is living in a caravan. Early on in the story, we get the impression that she is trying to be independent but is not exactly succeeding in being so. (Text 4A, p. ll. 14-16). She seems to almost be afraid that life will go on without her, while her boyfriend/husband is away working, living in the caravan. Because of this, she decides to surprise him by visiting him in the caravan. He seems like he enjoys being alone, away from her. This seems to be his ideal way of living, and it seems as if he does not really need her there with him. During the time that they are together, they seem very distant from each other, and their relationship seems very cold and non-loving. The fact that the story takes place in a desert might also say something about their relationship. When in a dessert, people can often feel as though their stranded, and there is no way out of it. Maybe this is how they both feel about the relationship.