Structure
The story “Closer” by David Malouf is mostly a recollection of past events and there are also several tension points in the rising action. It follows a traditional plot structure, with an exposition, risin…
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Title
The title of the story needs to be interpreted in connection to the character of Uncle Charles. Ever since he was banished by his family and treated like an outcast, the man is only allowed to approach the family by the farm’s fence and is never invited to get closer.
There is a contrast between the way Charles’ father and mother think. His father, who is extremely religi…
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Beginning
The beginning of the story introduces the narrator – Amy – and her background to the readers. From the following quotation, we also get acquainted with the narrator’s childish innocence:
There was a time, not so long ago, when we saw my Uncle Charles twice each year, at Easter and Christmas. He lives in Sydney but would come like the rest of u…
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Middle
The rising action mostly focuses on the way Amy’s family treats her Uncle Charles. At first, Amy talks about the life on the farm and about the way her other uncles, James and Matt, work hard every day:
Ours is a very pleasant part of the country. We are blessed. The cattle are fat, the pasture’s good. The older farmhouses, like my grandfather’s, are large, with many rooms and wide verandas, surrounded by camphor-laurels and bunyas and hoop-pines and Scotch firs. Sodom is far off… (p. 11, ll. 26-31)
Amy also recalls several tension moments connected to her Uncle Charles’ arrival at the farm each Easter and Christmas. Initially, the man calls from his BMW and lets his family know that he is approaching:
The telephone rings in the hallway. You answer. There are pips, then Uncle Charles says in a jokey kind of voice: ‘This is GAY 437 calling. I am approaching Bulladeela.’ The air roaring through the car makes his voice sound weird, like a spaceman’s. Far off…
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Ending
In the falling action, Amy recognises that it was only a dream, but she continues to imagine that she is the one inviting her uncle to let go of the outside world and return to his family:
I picture him. There on the other side of the fence, naked, his feet pressing the springy grass. Stretch out your hand, I tell him. Like thi…
