Life in a modern city can be stressful, noisy and crowded. People tend to rush constantly, and no one generally spares the time to get to know the people surrounding them. Most people automatically adjust to the changes of the constantly developing society, but others will undoubtedly be left behind as a result of a failed attempt to fit in. As cities expand so does the anonymity among its citizens. Many people find themselves completely secluded from their surroundings, and whether or not they have chosen to do so by themselves, their lives are marked by the solitude. The short story “Tea with the Birds”, which is written by Joanne Harris, deals with the subject of being lonesome in a cold and shallow but yet crowded place.
The main character, who I presume is a female, also acts as the first person narrator of the short story, which only contributes to the obvious subjectivism that marks the story. Small clues are given through the story to inform the reader that the main character is a woman – she works as a waitress and people assume that she is a nurse student – which also implies that she is relatively young. The action takes place in Mortimer Street – a place where no one really seems to know anybody else even though it is crowded. The main character considers herself an outsider, and she feels different from the people surrounding her. She is fully aware that her neighbours talk about her behind her back and label her, she does however not seem to care about it one bit.
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