'Clara's Day': analyse af Penelope Livelys novelle

The society that we live in today is a very selfish one. Most people think only of

Themselves and do only what seems to be in their best interest, whatever they do it consciously or unconsciously. One of the bigger problems with selfishness arises when the parents are selfish, because it affects their children.

In the story, “Clara’s Day”, written by Penelope Lively, Clara is an offer for her mother’s selfishness.

Clara is 15 years old, and she doesn’t have any real friends or a boyfriend.

Due to her adolescence she has a difficulty with her development into a sexual being. She is afraid of growing up, and afraid of her own sexuality. Stan is very masculine, and for Clara he represents the epitome of man sexuality. That’s why Clara is so afraid of him. Due to her lack of friends she is very lonely and craves for attention. She finds it hard to express her feelings so she walks naked in the school. She is very well aware of the fact that she will draw attention and that the Head will send a letter to her mother and that is why she does it.

Clara and her mother don’t have a good relationship. Her mother is a very selfish, self-centered and broad minded woman. She doesn’t show any interest in Clara or her life, and all of her energy is used on Stan and their relationship. Clara and her mother barely talk to each other, and when they do, they talk in clichés. That is one of the reasons why Clara doesn’t confide in her. Another one is that the mother wants Clara to change. She doesn’t want her to be a Victorian prude, but to be a broad minded girl, just like herself. When the mother receives the letter from the Head she is very proud of Clara. But that is not the reaction that Clara was hoping for. By taking her clothes off, she only does violence to herself. The thing she did to get her mother’s attention is become like her mother and that’s not what she was aiming at.