Her er vores study guide med hjælp til analyse af “Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story” af Paul Auster. Det er en god hjælp, hvis du selv skal analysere og fortolke novellen. Vi dækker de væsentligste analytiske elementer samt giver dig et grundigt summary.
Præsentation af teksten
Titel: “Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story”
Forfatter: Paul Auster
Udgivelse: The New York Times, 1990
Genre: Novelle
Paul Auster (f. 1947) er en amerikansk forfatter, som hører til den litterære bevægelse, der kaldes postmodernismen. De fleste af hans romaner og noveller handler om det absurde, mysterier eller krimi. Paul Auster gør også hyppigt brug af metafiktion, som “Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story” også er et eksempel på. Paul Austers mest berømte værker er “The New York Trilogy” (1985-1987) og “Sunset Park” (2010).
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Similes
When Auggie pretends to be Ethel’s grandson, Robert, he justifies it as “it was like a game we’d both decided to play – without having to discuss the rules” (ll. 146-147). The simile “like a game” implies Ethel’s active participation, and it helps ease some of the guilt that Auggie might feel at the thought of his deception. The simile also reflects the relationship between writers and readers – they are both engaged in a game in which the rules are taken for granted: the writer gives free rein to their imagination, and the reader suspends disbelief, for the sake of entertainment. It also hints at the question of whether the readers understand the rules of the story in this instance because of the ambiguity between fact and fiction.
As Auggie is washing the dishes after their meal, Ethel is sleeping “through the whole racket, snoring like a baby” (l. 181). The simile is consistent with the fact that the interaction between Auggie and Ethel is like a child’s game, in which they both play and pretend.
