Analysis
This section gives you a little teaser of our main findings in our analysis of the short story “Better Homes and Gardens” by Australian author Catherine Moffat.
The story’s plot structure is linear and features narrative techniques such as foreshadowing. The story presents the daily life of a homeless family, which suddenly gets interrupted by the disappearance of the father.
The main character of the story is a young boy who is also the unnamed narrator of the story. His father, his sister, and a man called Uncle are secondary characters.
The story is set in Australia. The social setting explores issues in contemporary society, such as homelessness and prejudice.
The events are described by a limited first-person narrator. The narrator is subjective, and his reliability is made uncertain by the fact that he is still a child and has a limited understanding of the events.
The language in the short story includes descriptive language and symbols. Both are rather typical of fiction.
You can find a full analysis of the story in the following pages.