Perspectives

Literary perspective

The short story “Celia Behind Me” by Isabel Huggan has several elements of modernist literature. 

One such element is the focus on Elizabeth’s state of mind and her inner conflict. Elizabeth’s inner conflict eventually becomes external in the climax of the story but remains unresolved even at the end. 

The first-person narrator and the subjective and sometimes unreliable nature of the narrative is another modernist element. The story is told from a first-person point of view by the adult Elizabeth, whose bias occasionally makes her unreliable. 

The symbols in the story, including the most important one present in the title, is another indication that the story is an example of modernist literature. 

Works with the same theme

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