Whose Face do you see?

Marjun Reginsdóttir

Whose face do you see? Melvin Burgess ______________________________________________________

In this essay I’ll analyze the story “whose face do you see” with special emphasis on themes, writing technique and significance of the title.

The primary writing technique that is used in this story is monologue. It is the only way the story is shown as through the eyes of the mother and Marianne so that the story is presented with the emotions of the characters. The italicized parts of the short story show the thoughts of Marianne while the normal text represents the mother’s point of view. This continues all the way until the very last line of the story where Marianne’s speech is no longer italicized. This is a sign of her regaining consciousness of herself again, knowing who she is.

The setting is in a hospital. This creates a certain mood that goes well with the story. The setting creates an ominous feeling, as there are next to no good things that happen at hospitals. That someone ends up in one in the first place is sad. -­‐
Unless
of course they’re giving birth. However, in this case the hospital makes the