In this assignment I will start to give a summary of the short story “In the National Gallery”. Then I will analyze and interpret the text. I will write an essay, compare and put it in perspective to two other “items” in the paper statement. I will try to relate the text to the world and society that we live in today, and bring up my personal opinions.
The short story “In the National Gallery” Is written by Doris Lessing.
The story is told from her point of view, even thou she is quite passive throughout most of the text. In the majority part of the text, we are inside her mind, but still we are following other people reactions, what they say, how they feel and what they express.
She is having a free hour, and instead of spending it going from picture to picture, she decides to pick out one large picture, which she will look at the entire time. She picks out a picture, “chestnut horse”, made by Stubbs. She is amazed by the horse and everything it radiates; all power and potency. She takes a seat on a central bench, with a very good view. She is quite alone for a while, until a man takes a seat right next to her. “He was about sixty years old, well dressed, a well-presented man absorbed in his contemplation”. He is very quiet, just looking at the horse, and after some time, a second man arrives, sitting next to the first man. We don’t get to know, if he is a son or a brother of the elder man, but they know each other for sure. The first man begins to tell the younger one about this picture, quietly, not wanting to be taken as an official guide. Still people around him are leaning towards him, hoping to catch some interesting information about the horse picture.
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