Structure
“Debbie and Julie” by Doris Lessing follows a teenage female character as she gives birth to a child in secret and returns home.
Title
As you start reading the short story, you will notice that Debbie is an absent character, a character that only appears in Julie’s memories.
For the main character, Julie, Debbie was a protector and a friend when she was in need. Julie is the teenage daughter of a British family who gets pregnant and decides to run away from home fearing her parents’ reaction.
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Beginning
The short story begins by introducing the main character, Julie, but without disclosing her situation: that she is pregnant and living in the flat of a prostitute:
The fat girl in the sky-blue coat again took herself to the mirror. She could not keep away from it. Why did the others not comment on her scarlet cheeks, just like when she got measles, and her hair was stuck down with sweat? (p. 89, ll. 1-4)
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Middle
The middle of the short story includes the rising action and the climax. The rising action is dense and filled with various tension points following Julie as she goes to give birth in a dirty shed by herself.
Using a technique reminiscent of stream of consciousness, the narrative follows Julie’s thoughts during this painful and shocking event in her life: “For the second time she waited for the life. She seemed quite wrenched with pain. Was it worse? Yes it was.” (p. 92, ll. 3-4).
Julie mostly thinks about Debbie and what she learned from the woman in the five months she had been living with her.
An important tension point is introduced when Julie reaches the shed and discovers a barking dog is blocking her way: “But now something she had not foreseen. A large dog stood in the door, a great black threatening beast, and it was growling.” (p. 92, ll. 23-25)
Some of the plot is conveyed through Julie’s flashbacks about Debbie. In this way we find out that Julie ran away from home when she discovered that she was pregnant and that Debbie took her in, protected her and took care of her.
Another tension point is reached when Julie gives birth to her child, and the whole process is described in detail through Julie’s eyes, paying attention to the physical sensations of giving birth: “She could see absolutely nothing, it was so dark. Then she felt a rush, as if her insides were pouring out, and she thought, Why didn’t the book say there will be all this water all the time?” (pp. 94, 95, ll. 37-1)
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Ending
The falling action presents Julie thinking about her options: to finish school, to leave her parents, to go and claim the baby. This shows her confused state of mind.
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