Analyse af Graham Swifts novelle 'Fusilli'

This world is tough. Everyday thousands of soldier’s men and women fights for freedom and democracy. At least that’s the intension for them. Nothing about war is good. Death, fear, and suffering often characterize war. Still thousands of men and women decides to go to the Middle East to fight. And then, when the soldiers fall in war, everything seems so meaningless, and the parents have to bury their own child. This is what the main character in the short story “Fusilli” by the author Graham Swift, describes. The story is structured around the feelings of sorrow and the thoughts a grieving father is having, after the loss of his son. Therefore, loss and grief are two important themes in the short story.

The story “Fusilli” by Graham Swift focus on an unnamed man who goes to a supermarket two weeks before Christmas. While in the supermarket, the man thoughts are driving him crazy, about how he and his wife, Jenny, decided not to celebrate Christmas this year, because the holiday would feel more like Remembrance Day than Christmas. As he walks through all the packed shelves, the man remembers a call he received a month ago from his son, Doug, who was a soldier deployed in the Middle East. The man starts feeling angry before the call and anxious to talk to his son. Doug advised his father to buy and try the fusilli pasta. Many things remind him of his son, when he is walking around in the store. It is told that Doug has died, and the call was the last time his father heard the voice of his son.