Analyse af 'Close to the water’s edge'

Analytical essay of the story “Close to the water’s edge”

The American dream is a dream that says if you work hard enough, you will achieve success. And to some people, that is great. But to others it might put pressure on them. Especially if you have someone close to you, that has achieved the American dream. Someone that has worked their ass off, to be able to get to the top. And if they have achieved it, they might expect you to do the same. And it can be extremely hard to live under those circumstances. The story “Close to the water’s edge” by Claire Keegan, takes us into the life of a young man, who is struggling with exactly that.

The story is being told by a third person narrator who follows the point of view of a young man. It takes us through a night in his life. It is his birthday and he is spending it with his mom and stepfather. It starts out at a hotel. After that they went to a restaurant. His stepfather starts talking about politics in the restaurant, and his mother disagrees of what they are saying it takes the good mood out of the story right at the beginning. At some point the young man gets up and leaves. He doesn’t know where he wants to go but he ends up on the beach. He decides to go for a swim. He has never gone for a swim there before, and suddenly he can’t feel the sand below his feet anymore. He starts panicking but somehow, he got himself safely back to the beach. This was the climax of the story. His clothes had disappeared into the water, but he found a yellow t-shirt that he wrapped around his waist. He gets back to the hotel where his stepfather was waiting for him. He walks past him and into his room where he picked up the phone and called an airline. And this is where the story ended.