Analyse af 'A taste of freedom'

The novel “A taste of freedom” is about a man named Ray Dower, he is married to Eleanor, and have a daughter together called Penny. One day penny came home with her boyfriend Andy, who wants to take Penny for a ride on his bike. Eleanor was clear in her mind not allowing penny to go with Andy, however Ray didn´t have any problem with it.

When the family went on holiday in France, Andy was waiting for them to spend the holidays with them, which Eleanor didn’t find any good but did accept it as nothing could be done. Andy had an accident, so Ray had to ride his bike home. Something Ray liked very much as he felt free for the first time in his adult life. Riding Andy’s bike home gave him the challenge he has been waiting for.

“A taste of freedom” takes place in England and in the south of France, while it is summer.

Ray Drower is married to Eleanor Drower and has a daughter called Penny. Even though he thinks he is a rather wild guy he isn’t, because he works as an accountant for a big insurance company and he always wears a dark suit, and then he is a really quiet man who takes things as they comes. Ray often day-dream about stuff like the life he might have lived, the actor he might have been, the drunken fights he might have been in, and the women he might have had. >>”Ray Drower thought of himself as rather wild, but in fact he was just an ordinary accountant working for a big insurance company. He often day-dreamed about…” (Page 1 line 1-5) Ray has always played safe, and now he wants to have some fun and feel free again, that might be one of the reasons for him riding Andy´s bike home from France. After he got the chance to ride the bike home you can read that he feels free and wants to make up for the fun he missed. >>”He roared ahead not knowing whether the devil had really got into him and he would keep going, Where to? He was not sure. He just wanted to make up for the fun he had missed and wanted it more and more the further ahead he rode.” (Last page line 120-124) In that quote the author tells us something about Rays thoughts, and that he finally feels free after a long time, and doesn’t want it to end. When Ray meets Penny’s boyfriend Andy he thinks he is nice, and he likes him, because he a kind of sees himself in Andy, or at least he wants to think that he is like Andy, Living in the moment and enjoying life, which also a reason why he doesn’t question Penny’s relationship to Andy. >>”Ray rather liked Andy. There was no malice in the boy, and his self-confidence was refreshing. He worked hard and had his fun” (Page 2 line 47-48) Ray Drower is a directly character. The narrator presents Ray directly in the text. The reader does not have to make a picture of him. Or at least you only have to make the visual picture. He is a “round character” because he is described a lot, you hear about his thoughts and his social position, as well as you hear a little bit about his looks.