Structure
The short story “Owl” by Jackie Keyfollows the life-long friendship between two girls, Anita and Marion (nicknamed Barn and Tawny), …
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Beginning
The short story begins with a flashback story about the characters when they were young. However, the author misleads readers because we do not know initially that the introduction is a flashback: “It was when I was ten and Tawny was nine that we first came across the barn owl on the farmland where our parents went that summer on holiday.” (ll. 1-2)
From the flashback story, we find out about the role of the owl and the underlying c…
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Middle
The middle of the short story unexpectedly jumps forty years later, and readers find out that the time of the narration is when the two characters are middle-aged: “ ‘If you’d known he was such a rat, would you have wasted these years?’ That was the question Tawn was asking me now.” (ll. 63-64); “ ‘They say that life begins at forty anyhow!’ I said gamely.” (l. 78)
The rising action is almost exclusively built on the dialogue between the two characters which is marked by several moments of tension. First of all, Barn does not want to talk about her upcoming separation: ‘Or they sit …
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Ending
The ending of the short story is quite symbolical. The falling action shows the two friends taking a walk which is a metaphor for their long friendship: “We walked to the end of my street and turned left. Then we walked on …
