'Hemi's gift' af TJ Corrigan, analyse

Hemi’s gift is a story revolving around a young woman who have just lost her father and is going on a trip. It begins with our main character getting on a bus heading towards her destination, it being her father’s funeral. She sits behind a Maori man whom she tries to ignore given his actions and his outward looks. The main character then briefly contemplates her father’s passing and tries to distract herself. When the bus comes to a stop for a short break, the main character realizes that she has forgotten her smokes and lighter and ends up asking the Maori man from the bus to borrow his. She then proceeds to engage in conversation with the man and ends up relating a lot more to him. After the 30 odd minutes they get back on the bus, where she finds solace In the Maori man’s music and presence.

The entirety of “Hemi’s gift” is seen from the perspective of the main character, the point of view being only what she thinks, hears, and sees. So In essence a first person perspective. The story takes place in two major settings, one being the bus on which she is riding and the other being the rest stop where she connects with the other frontal figure of this story, the Maori man Hemi. When we are first introduced to the bus setting, our protagonist struggles with the fact that this Maori man whom she shares ethnicity with is so ungroomed and is just sitting publicly in the bus strumming his guitar and singing. The inside of the bus being used as a setting helps the reader to relate to the protagonists feeling of surrounded and enclosed. This effect arrives from the fact that she can not escape her seat in this bus and that the man in front of her clearly is not bothered by other people looking, which shows a clear concern regarding appearance. A contributing factor to this is the fact that both of are also Maori. This is also exemplified in the text with “I shrink lower into my seat, trying to make myself small, and I put a pissed-off look on my face to show everybody on the bus that I am not related to - or associated in any way with - this man.” (Page 1, line 13-14) this shows her clear intent to not be related to this Maori man neither through race nor conversation. The next setting presented is a rest stop between destinations. where our protagonist is forced into interacting with this Maori man because she has forgotten her lighter and he is the only smoking at this stop. In this setting where we are presented with open air and a more roaming friendly setting. This is also the setting where our protagonist opens up and starts conversing with Hemi whom she earlier so openly tried to avoid. When engaging in conversation with Hemi the atmosphere suddenly seems a lot lighter and more welcoming in contrast to the bus setting, exemplified through various descriptions in the text such as “My shoulders relax. I feel relief, like I can trust him now, but I’m not really sure why. I smile. It is the first real smile I’ve had on my face for days.” (Page 3, Line 4-5) and “Cars go by on the main road and the people inside probably just see a couple of horis sucking down tar to make our lungs dark like our skins, but I feel peace in that moment.” (Page 3, Line 6-7). The title “hemi’s gift” is fitting in the sense that throughout the story Hemi helps our protagonist with coming to a sort of acceptance regarding both her own nationality and her father’s passing. It is almost a gift given to our protagonist from Hemi himself. The gift being her own acceptance but also being the friendliness that Hemi shows her throughout the story. Lastly when touching upon the themes the main theme can be said to be that of accepting where you come from and disregarding other peoples thought as long as you make yourself happy, Hemi being the shown case and a catalyst for our protagonists’ self-growth. The more underlying themes relate to topics such as handling grief, anxiety revolving life and decision making and lastly acceptance of life and its struggles.