Analyse af Zoe Lamberts novelle 'The Skirt'

The Skirt is a short story by Zoe Lambert, published in 2006. It focuses on a girl, named Bethany, and her daily life struggles, here included the simplest things, such as taking on/off clothes, and getting up and down the stairs. Bethany is disabled, and there's a lot of things, she can't do herself. Her family members are treating her like a toddler, and they do things for her, things she wanna do by herself. They continuously take control over her life. The wheelchair is her other half, but that does not stop her. She tries to be as self-governing as possible, but it’s difficult for her when she's got a mother, who’s hypochondriac. In the end of the story, 1Bethany ends up getting dressed and resembles herself and not how her mother wants her to look.

An analytical essay

The beginning:

The short story starts off with in medias res: “Wheelchairs are ageing. Or so my mother says. They add ten years, like sprouting grey roots. And anti-wrinkle creams won’t help. Neither will painting your wheelchair red, but I got my brother to do it anyway. Rob drew Manga style hamsters on the sides. If you’re stared at, it should be for hamsters”. There’s not much to come after in the beginning of the story.