Analyse af Shirley Goldens novelle 'The False Moon'

The text “The False Moon” is written by Shirley Golden in 2011. It’s about a boy who has problems at his school and makes graffiti in his spare time. He doesn’t have a caring mother. All he wants to do is draw and make graffiti. Then he meets a mysterious girl, she finishes his drawing, and he makes some new drawings, she can paint. At the end his mother finds out that he is the one making the graffiti and she finds out that, he is not doing well in school, and she promises him that she will change and things will get better.

The main theme in the story is love. The main character searches for love, because he doesn’t get it from his mother. “I slept until she returned. It was one of those rare occasions when she popped her head around my door.” (Page 7-8, line 31-32) She is not talking to him when they are at home, she doesn’t know what happens in his life. Then he finds the love through his art and graffiti and finds a girl “I imagined I was next to her. I slipped an arm around her waist and curled the ends of her hair around my fingers” (page 9, line 79-80). He wants closeness and need love. Beacause he got neglected by his mother, thats why he thinks of her in his imagination. The main character is lanky, skinny and with large eyes and lashes. “People don’t run from me; I’m lanky, skinny, I’m told, with large eyes and lashes more suited to a girl.” (Page 7, line 14-15) It shows that he dosen’t have high expectation of himself, he describes himself more suited as a girl. The main character isn’t the best in school in fact the only thing he is good at is art class. Because he was bad at words and he struggled with the math. “The only praise I’d ever received was in art class. I didn’t trust words, and that excluded me from most subjects; and I struggled with numbers, which barred me from the rest. But lines were reliable.” (Page 8, line 42-44) The relationship between the main character and the mother develop throughout the story, in the beginning the mother dosen’t really care about her own son, and barely talks to him about what he is doing. “I slept until she returned. It was one of those rare occasions when she popped her head around my door.” (Page 7-8, line 31-32) Here you can see, she barely comes near her own son when they are home together. In the end she promises things will get better and she will change:”is that how you see me? Really, is it?” Her voice is a whisper. “I’m sorry. Oh God, I’m sorry,” she releases a sob. “It’s been crap, but it’s going to stop. Really, this time it really is. Things – I’m going to be different from now on. I promise.” (Page 10, line 135-137) the mother wants it to change because it’s crap, she also just broke up with her boyfriend Dan. “I’ve finished with Dan ... it’s over. I know it’s been crap for you, but not anymore, no more.” (Page 10, line 128-129) Here you can also see she will change and things will get better for them. The main character doesn’t trust his mother and is a little doubtful, on whether it will change or not. “She pauses. She blinks. Is it bullshit? Probably” (Page 10, line 138) The main character has made a photo that symbolises his feelings to his mother. “And it matches the photo in the paper: a child trapped inside a broken bottle. There’s a woman in the background, her head is turned; she watching the shadow of a man in the distance.” (Page 10, line 117-119) The child in the broken bottle is the main character, the mother is the woman watching the shadow of the man, and the man is Dan. The main character feels broken by their relationship, him and his mother. And the mother is standing in the shadow of Dan, like Dan has the power. And that affect the main character to feel broken. At the very end he feels like sticking with his mother and follow on a new path with her. “No matter if the guide is wrong. I’ll choose my own route, find my own path; even in the dark.” (Page 10, line 149-150) Even if the route is hard to follow and problems come up, he will follow it anyway.