Beggarland

I denne study guide kan du få hjælp til at analysere novellen “Beggarland” af Alan Sillitoe. Udover analysehjælpen kan du finde et summary af teksten, samt idéer til fortolkning og perspektivering.

Præsentation af teksten

Titel: “Beggarland” (1998)
Forfatter: Alan Sillitoe
Genre: Short story

Alan Sillitoe (1928–2010) var en engelsk forfatter og digter, som både skrev for voksne og børn. Han er bedst kendt for sin debutroman Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1958) og hans tidlige novelle “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” (1959). Begge værker er blevet filmatiseret, og Sillitoe skrev selv manuskripterne.

Novellen “Beggarland” blev første gang udgivet i damebladet Women and Home.

Uddrag

Title

The title of the short story “Beggarland” by Alan Sillitoe does not immediately indicate what the story is about.

The meaning of the title is symbolic. In the story, Jane’s children – Ben and Angela - want to play a game called “Cardboard City” (l. 82). The game is meant to imitate the beggars that the children saw living on the South Bank, while out with their au pair, Greta. Although she initially objects, Jane eventually lets them play at being beggars in their garden (ll. 98-100). Through this, the children turn the grim realities of being homeless in a poor part of town into an imaginary place that they can enjoy. The name “Beggarland” recalls a fantasy world such as “fairyland” or “Disneyland”. In this situation, the invention of “Beggarland” is ironic, because although it becomes a fantasy for the children of well-off parents, they ignore the real hardships and issues of being a beggar.