Setting

Time and physical setting

Abigail Ulman's short story “Frida Boyelski’s Shiva” was published in 2016 and the setting is meant to be contemporary to the time of publishing. This is suggested, for example, by a reference to the American TV show Grey’s Anatomy (ll. 137-138) which premiered in 2005.

The events take place at Frida Boyelski’s house, over a period of eight days. On the first day, Frida learns that her daughter Ruthie is transgender; she then sits shiva, a seven-day mourning period in the Jewish faith (ll. 45-47). On the seventh day, Rafael comes home, and Frida suggests that they make dinner, since it is six o’clock (l. 189).

Frida Boyelski and Ruthie live in Australia, where Frida Boyelski immigrated when she was 26 (l. 34). A poster on Ruthie’s bedroom wall which reads Occupy Glenhuntly! 4 pm (l. 155) suggests that they might live in or close to Glen Huntly, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

At the beginning of the story, Ruthie is standing next to the kitchen door (l. 7). As she decides to sit shiva, Frida covers the mirrors in the house with bed sheets, as it is customary during shiva (ll. 50-51).

The house has a garage, where Frida keeps Ruthie’s old dollhouse and bike (ll. 58-60).

Frida most likely sits with her visitors in the living room – this is suggested, for example, by the presence of a coffee table with rickety legs, which Cousin Shulie sits on (ll. 92-93). The book that Ruthie asks Frida to read is also on the coffee table (l. 166). Then, when Cousin Shulie’s daughter Danielle visits, she sits in Ruthie’s favourite armchair (ll. 107-108). Frida’s ex-husband Ivan also visits – he sits on the couch and stares at the artwork on the wall (ll. 130-131).

On the sixth day of shiva, it rains, and no one visits Frida. She sits on the low chair from Ruthie’s old playset and then decides to turn up the heater and make herself a cup of tea. Restless, she goes around the house, turning lights on and off again (ll. 150-151).

Ruthie has her own bedroom, which is partly decorated by herself and partly by her mother years before. The bed is unmade and on the wall there are posters which read Occupy Glenhuntly! 4 pm and This Is What A Feminist Looks Like. The walls are covered with wallpaper with flowers, and there is also a desk in the room (ll. 155-159). The room represents the tensions between Frida’s choices for Ruthie (which are typically feminine) and Ruthie’s choices for herself (which are...

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