Analyse af Joanne Fedlers 'A simple exchange of niceties'

The first-hand impression is what counts the most. When we meet someone new, we have to act good to make the other one like us. If you act rude the first time you meet someone, your changes of getting accepted is less. Sometimes its hard, but something that might help you, could be a simple exchange of niceties.

The narrator is a girl who spends most of her time on a bench in a park. About eight week before the short story takes place, the narrator had sex with a guy named Damien. He asked her for a cigarette, she thought that he looked good in a pair of Levis pants. Then they had sex in her apartment. It resulted in her getting pregnant. When she asked Damien whether he wanted to help her with the child or not, he rejected her. He also called her a trashy whore, and that was the end of discussion. The narrator feels alone with her child, all she has is her best friend Barbie. Barbie doesn’t actually appear in the short story, but the narrator tells about her shortly. The narrator also has a mother who only shows support in the end of the story. This lack of social life could be the main reason that the narrator feels so alone. She isn’t a very confident person, and is a little scared of meeting new people. In the story she meets an elder lady in the park. The lady tries to start a conversation with the narrator. The narrator isn’t interested in talking and leaves. When Damien makes a move on her, she has no doubt. It doesn’t take much from Damien to get home with her. This could be a sign that she needs love. Her mother might love her, but doesn’t show it. When Damien talks to the narrator, she thinks that she can trust him, but she can’t. Just as she got pregnant he left her, and makes her alone with the child. This makes her not want to meet knew people even more. She has never accomplished anything or finished anything she has begun. She is having a hard time accepting her self and other people in general.