Fear and Mick
Serrusalmus is a short story written by Lesley Glaister. It was published in Contexts in 1992.
The themes in the story are fear, revenge and love. Through the whole story Marjorie fears the world, other people and especially Mick. The fear controls her life and makes her stay inside her apartment most of the time. At the end of the story Marjorie does no longer fear Mick and that gives her an opportunity to take revenge on him with help from her fish. After taking revenge on Mick she feels satisfied. The person who caused further fear to her life is now eliminated. She is now able to continue doing what she loves the most – take care of her beloved fish!
The title ”Serrusalmus” relates to Marjorie’s favourite pet, Russ, who is a piranha. The reason why Russ is so important to Marjorie is because he makes her able to take revenge on Mick. Russ makes Marjorie feel stronger even though she fears Mick. The title creates an expectation of that a Serrusalmus will be of great importance to the story and its role will make the story turn out the way it does.
It is a third person narrator who – when it comes to Marjorie – is omniscient through the whole story. This is shown when the narrator tells us about Marjorie’s past, her experiences, her feelings and her opinions. When it comes to Mick the narrator is non-omniscient because nothing but his actions and looks is described. The narrator does not comment the characters and the events so he is also neutral. The characters are not described directly by the author but indirectly by how they act. Every time Marjorie and Mick talk there is used direct speech. There is also used description when Marjorie’s apartment and her tanks and fish are brought up, and when Mick shows up – first time when Marjorie lets him in because of his fishy look and second time when she sees that he has been in a fight.
The text could take place at any time in the past few years. It takes place in Marjorie’s apartment on the nineteenth floor. One
The themes in the story are fear, revenge and love. Through the whole story Marjorie fears the world, other people and especially Mick. The fear controls her life and makes her stay inside her apartment most of the time. At the end of the story Marjorie does no longer fear Mick and that gives her an opportunity to take revenge on him with help from her fish. After taking revenge on Mick she feels satisfied. The person who caused further fear to her life is now eliminated. She is now able to continue doing what she loves the most – take care of her beloved fish!
The title ”Serrusalmus” relates to Marjorie’s favourite pet, Russ, who is a piranha. The reason why Russ is so important to Marjorie is because he makes her able to take revenge on Mick. Russ makes Marjorie feel stronger even though she fears Mick. The title creates an expectation of that a Serrusalmus will be of great importance to the story and its role will make the story turn out the way it does.
It is a third person narrator who – when it comes to Marjorie – is omniscient through the whole story. This is shown when the narrator tells us about Marjorie’s past, her experiences, her feelings and her opinions. When it comes to Mick the narrator is non-omniscient because nothing but his actions and looks is described. The narrator does not comment the characters and the events so he is also neutral. The characters are not described directly by the author but indirectly by how they act. Every time Marjorie and Mick talk there is used direct speech. There is also used description when Marjorie’s apartment and her tanks and fish are brought up, and when Mick shows up – first time when Marjorie lets him in because of his fishy look and second time when she sees that he has been in a fight.
The text could take place at any time in the past few years. It takes place in Marjorie’s apartment on the nineteenth floor. One