Analyse af Stewart O'Nans novelle 'Land of the Lost'

Almost all mothers have a ‘protect gene’ for their children. When they hear about a murder, they start thinking ‘what if it was my child?’ This thought can make them want to be a hero and investigate the murder on their own. This is exactly what happens to our main character in this short story Land of the Lost by Stewart O’Nan.

We do not know the name of our main character and that indicates how generalized she is. The short story is told by a third person narrator - and it is seen from the main character’s point of view: “Thank God, she thought. What would Brian say now?” (p. 11, ll.138) She is following a murder case very carefully. Her and her husband have broken up and her to boys are out of the house. She only has the German shepherd Ollie at home - so there is nobody to prevent or disturb when she is working with the case. She needs content in her life and something to do. The murder case takes all her attention - it gives her problems at her job, because she tells the customers about the case: “so much so that her manager had to ask her to stop.” (p. 8, ll. 4-5) The murder, James Wade, tells where the girl is buried - west of Kingsville - and the main character begins keeping a file. The main character of the short story keeps it all in secret - she does not tell anybody about it: “The first time was the hardest because she felt foolish.” (p. 8, ll. 11-12) she knows, that what she makes is not ‘normal’ for a woman like her. That is why she keeps it secret - so people will not think she is stupid. Her dog, Ollie, is by her side when she searches for the dead body. After they have searched in one place without success, she starts being more seriously: “She religiously documented everything, taking videos of any ground they disturbed, writing up her field notes as they got home.” (p. 8, ll. 23-25) she begins to follow the case more seriously, she uses all resources. It tells us how much it means to her to investigate that murder. It also tells us, that she feel lonely and whit following the case, she can spend her time on something interesting.